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Tag: counterfeiting

  • PM India Calls to Disrupt Illicit Tobacco Ecosystem

    PM India Calls to Disrupt Illicit Tobacco Ecosystem

    A new industry update from the EU-ASEAN Business Council highlights the continued scale of illicit tobacco trade in India and across Southeast Asia, underscoring growing concerns over smuggling, counterfeit products, and unregulated nicotine markets. According to the Tobacco Institute of India (TII), illicit cigarettes account for nearly one-quarter of India’s domestic cigarette market, resulting in estimated annual revenue losses of around Rs. 23,000 crore ($2.4 billion). The report coincides with World Anti–Counterfeiting Day remarks from Philip Morris India, which reiterated calls for stronger enforcement and industry collaboration to combat illegal tobacco flows.

    Broader regional data from EU-ABC and Euromonitor International show the illicit tobacco market across ASEAN-6 generated an estimated $12.6 billion over 2024–2025, with illicit cigarette volumes rising 14% and illicit e-vape sales increasing 24% in the past year. Additional intelligence cited in the update points to a rapidly expanding global illicit nicotine ecosystem, including a multi-billion-dollar illegal e-cigarette market, alongside continued enforcement actions in India such as large-scale seizures of prohibited vaping devices and cigarette shipments. PM India said the findings reinforce the need for stronger track-and-trace systems, cross-border enforcement, and coordinated policy responses to curb the growing black market.

  • England’s Ports Seeing Boost in Fake Vapes

    England’s Ports Seeing Boost in Fake Vapes

    The number of potentially unsafe disposable vapes being seized at English Channel ports has risen “dramatically,” according to trading standards.

    More than 300,000 of the counterfeit products had been seized during December, Kent Trading Standards said, according to the BBC.

    “A lot of our work has been focused on retail outlets, but this is now higher up the supply chain,” James Whiddett, spokesperson for KTS, said. “We’re stopping these devices, which may have about 10 times the legal limit of nicotine in them.”

    He said the current legal limit on the tank on disposable vapes is 2 mL, which is the equivalent of 600 puffs.

    “The products which we’re seeing coming into the country at the moment have 3,500 puffs on them and some have 7,000 puffs, so they are illegal and cannot be supplied to anyone,” he said.

    Whiddett said the demand for disposable vapes had risen dramatically over the last nine months.

    “The flavors, the fact that people don’t have to put their own liquids in, means it’s convenient and easy,” he said. “We’re not sure where these illegal vapes were going, and our investigations are ongoing.”

    Gillian Golden, CEO of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, said noncompliant vape products are also associated with noncompliant sales, “often to underage consumers.”

    She said the association would continue to assist trading standards over noncompliant vaping products.