Singapore - illicit cigarette trade down by 37 percent ..

January 26, 2010 - The number of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized in Singapore last year, at 2.9 million, was down by 37 percent on that of 2008, 4.6 million, according to a Channel NewsAsia story quoting Singapore Customs. This was the largest drop in five years. The number of people caught selling or buying illicit cigarettes was about 2.5 per cent lower last year than it was in 2008.

Singapore Customs said the fall in the illicit trade in cigarettes could have been due to the ‘Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette’ inscription that, since January 1 last year, has had to be printed on every cigarette.

The inscription is said to have made it easier for Customs officers to detect contraband cigarettes and, at the same time, made smokers more wary of lighting cigarettes without the inscription, though the latter effect has probably been undermined by public smoking bans.

The drop in the illicit trade was accompanied last year by a 13 percent increase in duty payments, which were valued at S$861 million.

Click to enlarge..



From January 1, 2009, all duty-paid cigarettes sold in Singapore have been marked with the letters "SDPC" which stands for Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarettes, Singapore Customs announced on Wednesday, 9/10/2008. (Singapore - Introduction of Tobacco Stamp to combat contraband..)





Reference: Singapore Sees 40% Fall In Supply Of Illegal Cigarettes, Source: Government of Singapore, 1/25/2010.

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Singapore - record number of smuggling attempts for 1st part of 2009..;
Singapore - new measures to discourage smoking among the young..;
Singapore - more people were smoking in 2007 than 2004..;
Singapore - Smoking increase despite public ban, price hike..; Singapore - Introduction of Tobacco Stamp to combat contraband...