September 21, 2020 – Tobacco company Philip Morris South Africa (PMSA) has welcomed the Consumer Goods Council of SA’s (CGCSA) announcement of a newly launched Illicit Crime Hotline to combat illicit trade in South Africa. PMSA is a member of the CGCSA.
“We welcome the commitment of the CGCSA in combating illicit trade in South Africa, it comes at an important time when illegal activity is rife,” says Marcelo Nico, Managing Director of PMSA. “The launch of this hotline will enable South Africans to be directly involved in the fight against illicit and counterfeit manufacturing and trading of products in the country, which affects not only government revenues and legitimate businesses like ours, but consumers and society as a whole.”
According to the CGCSA, Illicit trade is one of the biggest threats to economic order and growth in South Africa.
“The launch of this hotline is a step in the right direction to help strengthen cooperation between the consumers, the private sector and government to combat illicit trade,” Nico says. “Recent reports indicate that illegal activities in general were estimated to result in a tax compromise of more than R100bn, while the South African Revenue Services (SARS) estimates at least R10bn in lost taxes over the past four months as reported so far as a result of the tobacco and alcohol ban.”
Abraham Nelson, CGCSA Head for the Crime Risk Initiative (CRI) says the toll-free number (0800 014 856) is one of the initiatives by CGCSA to protect its members from illicit or counterfeit manufacturing and trading of various product such as alcohol, cigarettes, food, pharmaceuticals and clothing. It also serves to protect consumers from non-compliant products.
Nico adds: “There is still much to be done in SA to combat illicit trade, especially in a year like 2020 where for a substantial part of the year, tobacco was not permitted for sale in South Africa and the illicit trade for tobacco was blooming.”
“The next important step is for South Africa is to ratify the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products,” according to Navi Pillay, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the member of the Expert Council of PMI IMPACT. “Our country suffers from one of the highest rates of illicit tobacco trade globally. the public and private sector as well as civil society all have a role to play in developing and implementing meaningful solutions against illicit trade. I look forward to the Government to further the momentum by adding additional and effective anti-illicit trade measures to complement the CGCSA’s initiative.”
Beyond lost tax revenue, illicit cigarettes undermine South Africa’s public health agenda, as products may not comply with regulatory requirements. Illicit trade makes cheap, unregulated tobacco products easily accessible—undermining efforts to protect youth from smoking.
“As a society, we all have a role to play. As we are working toward a smoke-free future, we know that in order to achieve this objective, it is more essential than ever to eradicate illicit trade,” says Nico. “We are calling on the public not to support the illicit cigarette trade in any way and if anyone has information about illicit trade or counterfeit manufacturing, they should call the CGCSA’s toll free hotline.”
PMI has more than two decades of experience fighting illicit trade in tobacco products. PMI works with private and public actors alike to help advance global anti-illicit trade efforts, including through PMI IMPACT, a global initiative supporting third-party projects against illegal trade and related crimes.
We remain steadfast on our determination to help eliminate illicit trade, and we stand ready to continue working with public and private actors alike to end illicit trade once and for all. Now is the time to focus on finding sustainable solutions against this issue. It is only through conversation and collaboration that we can affect real change. PMSA can be part of the solution. To find out more about the fight against illicit trade, visit www.stopillegal.com.
Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future
Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the United States. In addition, PMI ships a version of its IQOS Platform 1 device and its consumables authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Altria Group, Inc. for sale in the U.S. under license. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI’s smoke-free IQOS product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of June 30, 2020, PMI estimates that approximately 11.2 million adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI’s heat-not-burn product, available for sale in 57 markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.
