Tobacco up in smoke

The South African Revenue
Service (Sars) has stepped up
its vigilance with regard to
combating illicit trade and
has increased its successful
interceptions by almost
50% in the year-to-date,
compared to the same period
last year.
So said Sars commissioner,
Tom Moyane, addressing
delegates at the South
African Association of
Freight Forwarders’ Congress
2016 held in Johannesburg
earlier this month. He
pointed out that Sars had,
over the past year, made a
total of 867 narcotics-related
busts, 314 of illicit Viagra,
308 tobacco busts and 99
for the Convention on
International Trade
in Endangered
Species of Wild
(Cites).
With tobacco
products, mainly
illicit cigarettes,
still topping the
list as one of the
most sought-after
illegal goods on the market,
the Sars national tobacco
initiative has maintained its
regular audits on cigarette
and tobacco companies.
“We have also improved
our tracking of illicit
cigarettes in and out of
warehouses and in transit,”
said Moyane, adding that
that Sars was also developing
new authentication markings
for cigarettes as well as
conducting more retail
inspections to focus on
compliance as well as the
disruption of illegal trade.