In 2022, the weight of the illegal cigarette trade was 7.1%, the lowest level of the last 15 years. In 2010, the weight of illegal cigarette sales accounted for 27% of the total consumption.
“The continued decline of the black market is a positive effect of the authorities` efforts to combat smuggling, and it is also the result of a fair and predictable fiscal framework, with the decrease in illegal activities directly correlated with the contributions’ increase of the tobacco industry to the state budget. We hope that the recent initiatives announced in the public space regarding the increase of the excise duties for tobacco and nicotine products will not materialize, because a tax increase outside the five-year calendar adopted less than a year ago will inevitably also lead to the increase of the black market. The smuggling methods are constantly diversifying, with the activity of organized crime networks being limited only by the imagination of traffickers. We believe that it is very important that the decision-makers support this declining trend in illicit trade by ensuring the fiscal predictability needed to combat illicit traffic that directly affects Romanian consumers, the state budget, and also tax-paying companies and their employees”, said Ileana Dumitru, Legal and Public Affairs Director, South Eastern Europe Area in British American Tobacco (BAT).
BAT, the leader of the Romanian tobacco market, is also one of the largest contributors to the state budget, with a total contribution of over RON10 billion (EUR2.1 billion) in taxes and excises in 2022.
Illicit trade with excisable products has a significant impact on governments’ efforts to secure essential revenues to finance and support public services. Between 2016 and 2022, Romania lost state budget revenue of about RON17.8 billion because of cigarette smuggling, BAT said in a statement.