New resource explores illicit trade loopholes

Effective track and trace systems allow officials to track cigarettes from their place of manufacture and trace them to the point where all taxes have been paid—and identify the weak points in the supply chain where product enters the illicit market. This new resource from STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products) has details on Track and Trace programmes across the world and explores how the industry is exploiting the system.

Tobacco companies have a vested interest in influencing these Track and Trace systems to protect the benefits they reap from illicit trade. To run effective track and trace systems and ward off attempted industry involvement, governments must stay vigilant and remain independent of the industry.

Find out more including case studies on Pakistan. As a Party to the Illicit Trade Protocol, Pakistan is required to develop a track and trace system that is independent from tobacco industry involvement. This effort, however, has been undermined by the tobacco industry, as the technology for the country’s new system will be provided by a company with links to the industry’s own ineffective track and trace system, Codentify.