Passengers at five UK airports and Dover Ferry Terminal are being presented with visual reminders about the consequences of bringing back tobacco with the intent to sell. The UK tobacco industry, through the trade body the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), has funded an advertising campaign. Their aim; to raise passenger awareness that reselling tobacco purchased abroad is illegal.
The TMA makes the point that tobacco smuggling brings criminality into communities across the UK and costs the UK taxpayer an estimated £2.1bn a year, or £6m a day . Those caught selling on tobacco in the UK which has been bought abroad could face penalties of up to seven years in jail.
The five airports for the 2016 advertising campaign are Heathrow Terminal 5, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Cardiff. The adverts began on Monday, July 25, and run for four weeks.
Giles Roca, Director General of the TMA said: “As people head abroad for their summer holidays, we are taking this opportunity to remind them with this new campaign that it is illegal to bring back tobacco from overseas and then sell it on in the UK. Reselling tobacco bought overseas is not a victimless crime. This practice affects many hard-working independent shopkeepers who are deprived of legitimate tobacco sales and related footfall.
“This year we are also extending the reach of the campaign to include those leaving by ferry by covering the country’s busiest port at Dover. Our advice is simple; don’t be tempted.”
About the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association
The TMA’s members are British American Tobacco UK Ltd, Gallaher Ltd (a member of the JTI Group of companies) and Imperial Tobacco Ltd. This is the third year of the TMA’s advertising campaign at UK airports. The campaign began in 2014 at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. In 2015, Heathrow, Cardiff and Aberdeen were added. This year the campaign has been further extended to include Dover, the world’s busiest passenger port. In 2013 Dover carried 12.7 million ferry passengers.
HMRC strategy
For the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force strategy for tackling tobacco smuggling, Tackling tobacco smuggling: building on our success, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-tobacco-smuggling-building-on-our-success. And for HMRC reports on the outputs of the tobacco strategy, case studies, criminal investigations, civil penalties and high profile multi-agency events, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-tobacco-smuggling-2013-to-2014-outputs.
