Chips to fish out the fake cigarettes
Every cigarette pack made in the UK will contain an electronic chip in future allowing Customs and other law enforcers to distinguish between legal and counterfeit cigarettes.
The main tobacco companies, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher are paying for the initiative including providing hundreds of hand-held electronic readers to Customs.
The industry estimates that some two billion fake cigarettes were smuggled into the UK last year which deprived the Exchequer of nearly £500m of duty.
The new crackdown, announced in yesterday's Budget, will initially target counterfeit cigarettes sold in small corner shops, which is a growing area of the illegal trade.
A spokesman for the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association said: 'Customs were becoming increasingly concerned that counterfeit cigarettes were entering the legitimate market after some retailers were found selling them.
'While the vast majority of counterfeits change hands at car boot sales or in pubs, the authorities wanted to set a deterrent to stop shopkeepers being tempted into the market.'
Fake cigarettes are smuggled from illegal factories in China, the Far East and Eastern Europe. A Customs raid in Coventry last month confiscated more than 14 million cigarettes which would normally have accounted for £3m in duty.
Counterfeit cigarettes tend to be far more dangerous to health than the legitimate brands with tests proving that on average they contain 60% more tar, 80% more nicotine and 130% more carbon monoxide. Customs claim that most counterfeiting is linked to organised crime.
The TMA would not reveal how much the new initiative will cost the industry although the spokesman said it was 'not inconsiderable'.
The first chips in packs are likely to start rolling off production lines within six months.
Christopher Ogden, director of the TMA said: 'Covert features to be included in UK cigarette packs will allow Customs' officers to instantly authenticate a genuine product through hand-held readers.'
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