Turkiye to Crack Down on Illicit Trade

Turkiye plans to crack down on illicit tobacco production and consumption, which cost the state an estimated TRY30 billion ($1.61 billion) in lost tax revenue, reports Daily Sabah.

A draft bill set to be discussed at Parliament will bring prison terms of up to five years for people selling tobacco without licenses from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

Illicit product is estimated to account for 20 percent of Turkey’s tobacco market. In 2021, some 35 billion cigarettes containing contraband tobacco were sold. This year, consumption is projected to reach about 50 billion.

The majority of illicit trade comprises illegally produced, unlicensed tobacco sales, such as hand-rolled cigarettes, representing around 27 percent of Turkish cigarette consumption. Counterfeit or smuggled cigarettes, by contrast, constitute about 3 percent of the market.

Authorities seized 4.7 million packages of smuggled cigarettes, 273 tons of tobacco products and 329,000 cigars during the first nine months of 2022, preventing a loss of TRY625 million in tobacco taxes, according to police data.