OREANDA-NEWS. November 12, 2012. Belarus’ customs agencies seized over 32 million cigarettes in a series of raids carried out in January-September 2012 to crack down on smugglers and producers of counterfeited tobacco goods.

Deputy Chairman of Belarus’ State Customs Committee Sergei Borisyuk released the figure on October 29 at a seminar, which gathered representatives of Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and several Belarusian ministries and agencies: the State Customs Committee, the Interior Ministry, the Tax Ministry and the Border Committee.

Smuggling in cigarettes and trafficking in counterfeited tobacco goods has been on the decline in 2012, Borisyuk informed. He attributes the decline to effective raids carried out by state agencies concerned, the government’s balanced policy on tobacco excises, and partnership with cigarette manufacturers.

JTI Belarus CEO Konstantin Fedorov, who attended the seminar, accentuated the point that illegal trade in tobacco goods deprives the state budget from tax proceeds, harms JTI’s cigarette business and undermines the reputation of well-known tobacco brands. In that context, JTI has been running a programme aimed at preventing transactions with its products on the black market.