Tobacco companies could be made responsible for clamping down on cigarette smuggling, with stiff financial penalties for failure, under proposed guidelines for a new global treaty to tackle the multi-billion-dollar illicit trade in tobacco products.
The trade is estimated to deprive national exchequers worldwide of $40bn-$50bn in lost taxes every year and undermines the drive to raise cigarette prices, which experts say is the single most effective way of deterring people from smoking, especially the young.
