Customs on high alert

Customs officials are on a high alert in the wake of a sharp rise in the number of counterfeit cigarettes on the global market, a spokesman for the department said.

Two containers, measuring 40 feet and 20 feet respectively and packed with some 14 million cigarettes, have been intercepted at customs so far this year.

A number of individuals are expected to be arraigned in court shortly in connection with the importation of fake cigarettes.

"Fake cigarettes are swamping all markets. It's a worldwide crisis which needs constant monitoring," the spokesman told The Times.

Though the precise number of false branded cigarettes in Malta can never be ascertained, the sale of cigarettes under the counter is widespread, depriving the government of considerable revenue due to lost excise taxes, and putting a dent in cigarette companies' profits.

"Do not be part of a criminal act. Do not help criminals get richer" a full page newspaper advert by Central Cigarettes Company Ltd recently appealed.

As the maker of popular brands like Rothmans, Dunhill and Royals, Central Cigarettes commands some 90 per cent of the market in Malta.

The company warned that the counterfeit cigarettes were made from inferior tobacco and material, were shorter in length and manufactured by an unknown process, and the tar and nicotine deliveries declared on the pack were false.

The illegal product has no excise stamp and claims to be 'Made in England'.

Central Cigarettes general manager Ronnie Abela said his company was working hand in hand with the police and the Customs Department to intercept counterfeit cigarettes.

Mr Abela said the vast majority of these cigarettes were being sold "under the counter", though in one instance one particular wholesaler placed counterfeit packets in a vending machine.

He said that in all probability the cigarettes were being imported from China: experts believe that more than 100 billion counterfeit cigarettes are produced each year in remote villages. He argued it was highly unlikely that they were being produced in Malta.

The Customs department spokesman said the majority of fake cigarettes seized this year were being passed off as Rothmans.

"In conjunction with the foreign intelligence unit, we are now carrying out a lot of intelligence work - with a good success rate.

"It's impossible to intercept all the illegal products that come in. But I believe we have a good track record. One must bear in mind that in the UK it is estimated that just 10 per cent of all illegal drugs are intercepted."

The spokesman said the packaging used on most counterfeit cigarettes was so good that it was almost impossible to distinguish it from the real thing by just looking at it.

He said that security conferences abroad were putting a lot of emphasis on counterfeit cigarettes since there seemed to be a boom in the black market trade.

Last June, Central Cigarettes organised a seminar for Customs and police on counterfeit cigarettes and contraband.

The Maltese are considered to be among the highest per capita smokers in the world.

Speaking at a meeting of the World Health Organisation last year, Health Minister Louis Deguara said the number of cigarettes sold per person per year increased from 1,038 in 1980 to 3,702 in 1990.

The figure declined slightly to 3,627 in 1999 - still, a stark difference to the EU, where the average that year was 1,602.

Some 70 per cent of the cost of each packet of legal cigarettes goes to the government through VAT and excise duty.