Stop Contrabanda Campaign: About 116 million smuggled cigarettes seized by authorities in 2021

In 2021, on grounds of extensive efforts to stop illegal activities at the country borders, the Romanian authorities seized about 116 million contraband cigarettes, up almost 5 million as compared to 2020. The market value of contraband cigarettes seized by the Romanian authorities last year amounted to over 68 million lei, according to data centralized on www.stopcontrabanda.ro.

The black market cigarettes in Romania decreased in 2021 to 8.7%, compared to 9.4% in 2020, according to the latest Novel Research study. At the same time, in November 2021 it reached even 7.4% of the total consumption, this being the lowest level recorded in the last 15 years.

“We are happy that the authorities` efforts to surveill the country borders and the places where smuggled cigarettes are sold are registering results. A low level of illicit trafficking and a predictable fiscal framework for all categories of nicotine products are essential conditions for a favorable context for investments and thus, for the increase of contributions to the state budget. Due to decrease of the black cigarette market, in the first 9 months of last year BAT paid the state budget almost 1 billion lei more than in the same period of 2020 and we want to maintain this growth rate“, stated Ileana Dumitru, Legal and External Affairs Director, Central Europe South Area within BAT.

According to the KPMG Project Sun 2021 report, Romania ranks sixth among EU member states and first in Eastern Europe in terms of cigarette smuggling. BAT continues to support the authorities in their efforts to combat tobacco smuggling: along with other projects, in 2021, 250 mobile surveillance cameras with motion sensors such as hunting cameras were donated to the Romanian Border Police and installed in locations identified based on risk analyses at the external border of the European Union.

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Real time data on the evolution of cigarette seizures in Romania can be viewed on www.stopcontrabanda.ro platform, a BAT initiative that aims to support the authorities by centralizing the seizures throughout the country, but also to inform consumers on the negative impact  of cigarette smuggling on society. The campaign is developed in partnership with the Romanian Police, the Romanian Border Police, the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) and the General Customs Directorate.

The “Stop Contrabanda” (Stop Smuggling) campaign was launched in the spring of 2017 by BAT to create a unique information point on cigarette smuggling activity.

About cigarettes smuggling in Romania

• Romania has the highest level of cigarette smuggling in Eastern Europe.
• Romania has 2,000 km of border with non-EU countries, where the price of tobacco can be up to six times lower.
• Illegal cigarette trafficking annually prejudices the Romanian state by approximately 2 billion lei.
• Each container of illegal cigarettes equals one million euros profit for smuggling networks. Interpol data show that illicit cigarette trafficking is a catalyst for trafficking in drugs, weapons, people and even terrorist activities.