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Chapter 16 Issues in the Smuggling of Tobacco Products Luk Joossens, Frank J. Chaloupka, David Merriman, and Ayda Yurekli This
chapter reviews several issues related to the smuggling of
cigarettes and other tobacco products. First, the health and
other consequences of cigarette smuggling are described,
emphasizing the potential for cigarettes smuggling to
undermine tobacco control efforts. This is followed by a
description of the various legal, quasi-legal, and illegal
activities that are broadly described as smuggling. The
factors that create incentives for and/or facilitate these
activities are reviewed, noting that non-price factors, such
as the presence of corruption, organized crime, and
widespread street-selling, can be as, or more, important
than the levels of taxes and prices and the differentials
between these in different jurisdictions. The impact of
smuggling on tobacco tax revenues is then discussed,
highlighting the experiences of Canada and Sweden, where
cigarette taxes were reduced in response to the perception
that cigarette smuggling was draining revenues. The role of
the tobacco industry in smuggling is then discussed.
Finally, a set of policy measures that can be used to
counter cigarette smuggling is presented.
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