Why is confronting illicit trade key to delivering a smoke-free future?
The world has an unprecedented opportunity to eradicate smoking. Science and technology have enabled the development of better alternatives, moving a smoke-free future to within our grasp. It’s paramount to protect consumers from fakes and prevent the smuggling and counterfeiting of our products.
To deliver a smoke-free future, we must ensure that there are no illegal actors sustaining a black market for cigarettes and other tobacco products. Cigarettes, for instance, remain one of the most common illegally traded goods in the world, with as much as 15 percent of total cigarette sales (excl. China and the U.S.) sourced from the black market.
Securing our supply chain
For PMI, eliminating the illicit tobacco trade has been a long-standing priority. We focus our efforts on securing our supply chain and protecting our products. And we do it by leveraging technology and innovation for the better: From multiple applications of authentication and security technologies to track and trace our products across the supply chain, to the use of machine learning to identify and prevent illegal online sales, technology is helping us detect and address illicit trade.
But if we truly want to have an impact on deterring illicit tobacco flows, and protect consumers and our brands from smugglers and counterfeiters, our internal efforts need to be coupled with strong cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships.
A holistic approach for a successful collaboration
No one can fight illicit trade on their own. Public-private partnerships based on an inclusive, commonsense approach by governments, the private sector, and civil society are vital to helping combat the practice.
In today’s hyper-connected world—with growing concerns around global security, the proliferation of criminal organizations, and the surge of new digital tools—we believe that it’s more important than ever to sustain our collective
efforts and promote an inclusive dialogue around solutions to tackle this global issue.
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Fighting illicit trade: How can we tackle this global problem?
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Latest articles
Europe can’t afford to ignore the surge in illicit trade
Illicit cigarette consumption in the EU rose by 10.8% in 2024, reaching 38.9 billion cigarettes—nearly one in every ten smoked. This isn’t just a statistic—it’s a warning sign of a system under strain and a symptom of broader policy failure across Europe.
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Fighting illicit trade: How can we tackle this global problem?
7 min readWhat is illicit trade? How does it impact society? How can we confront it? Why would doing this help deliver a smoke-free future, faster? On this page, we’ll answer these questions and highlight the strategies we are implementing.
Preventing illicit trade: PMI’s efforts, progress in 2021, and vision for the future
Eliminating illicit trade is a long-standing priority for PMI. In the tobacco sector, an estimated one in every 10 cigarettes smoked worldwide is illicit. This is causing governments to lose up to USD 50 billion in tax revenue each year.
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