Smuggled tobacco causes nearly $180 mln annual loss: report

Smuggled tobacco is causing Vietnam to miss out on VND2.5-3 trillion (US$149.48-179.37 million) in state taxes annually, the national tobacco association reported Wednesday.

Around $200 million is also carried out of the country to purchase tobacco each year, Tobacco Association (VTA) said at a conference reviewing efforts to prevent tobacco smuggling and counterfeit tobacco production in 2008. It is estimated that around 731 million tobacco packets have been illegally imported this year, an increase of 15-20 percent year-on-year, VTA reported. The association said 90 percent of illegal tobacco is sold under the brands of Jet and Hero and popularly consumed in localities such as Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City in the Mekong Delta. Since 2007, relevant agencies have cracked down on more than 15,000 cases related to illegal and fake tobacco and confiscated over 13 trillion packets of the product. Reported by Trung Bao