Members of global, regional and local law
enforcement, revenue and customs agencies will meet in Cape Town at the end of
the month to collaborate on efforts to address the scourge of illicit tobacco
trade in sub-Saharan Africa.
South
Africa has the highest illicit tobacco incidence in the region and is listed
amongst the top five illicit markets globally. In 2013, an estimated 31% of all
cigarettes consumed in the country were illicit. In 2014, this number is still
around 23%. These cigarettes are either manufactured locally and not declared
for taxes or smuggled into the country by a growing network of criminals. In
terms of impact on the fiscus, more than R20 billion in tax revenue has been
lost since 2010.
The
illicit cigarette problem is not limited to South Africa, but extends
throughout the Southern Africa region, with Zambia, Namibia and Swaziland
having estimated illicit incidences of well above the global average of between
10% and 12%.
“The
problem runs far deeper than enormous losses of fiscal income that could have
been put to good use to bolster government efforts in education, infrastructure
development and poverty alleviation,” says Francois van der Merwe, CEO of the
Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa.
“A major
issue is that the illicit market is closely linked to trans-national organised
crime syndicates. Those that trade in illicit products, whether it is
cigarettes, alcohol, textiles, DVDs, and environmental crimes such as Rhino
poaching or abalone smuggling, are most often also involved in other serious
crimes and even the funding of terrorism and money launderingi”
According
to Interpol, criminal organisations are attracted by the lucrative profits
involved in trading legitimate goods through illicit channelsii. 2
The
objective of the conference is to build a foundation of close collaboration
between affected countries in the region as well as their law enforcement,
customs, treasury and revenue departments. Because the health agenda of
governments is also affected by illicit trade, it is important that Health
Ministries also become part of the efforts against illicit trade.
“We have seen
first-hand what effective focus on combatting illicit trade by government can
achieve. South Africa saw a marked decrease in illicit from 31% to 23% in the
last year. This is in most part due to the excellent efforts by the various Law
Enforcement/Police, Customs and Revenue, Treasury and Defence departments in
the South African government.”
Van der Merwe says
that while the declining numbers in South Africa are encouraging, this does not
bode well for the rest of the region as organised crime is a moving target
prone to shifting its focus to ‘easier’ markets when the going gets tough.
“If the pressure is
increased in one market, syndicates simply move to the next, which is a real
concern. Addressing this shift is one of the objectives of the conference.
Imagine what we can achieve if not only government departments are working
together to fight the illicit trade but countries too.”
The three day conference
will include presentations by, amongst others, international policing
organisation Interpol, the European Union’s law enforcement unit Europol,
COMESA, UK customs officials, and a host of in-country revenue, customs and law
enforcement specialists from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and
South Africa.
