Hi-tech solution to tackle counterfeit tobacco
20 August
2008
Our Trading Standards team has gone hi-tech in its fight
against the sale of counterfeit tobacco.
The team is one of the first in the country to use a new
‘tobacco reader’, developed by the tobacco industry in order to
identify packs of counterfeit cigarettes and hand rolled
tobacco.
The reader is a hand-held device that can be easily transported
by Trading Standards Officers when carrying out their enforcement
duties.
All packs manufactured on or after 1 October 2007 by the four
largest tobacco companies, which represent 97% of the UK duty paid
market, now have an anti-counterfeit mark incorporated into the
pack. Hand-rolling tobacco packs will be similarly marked from
October 2008. The reader detects the mark and identifies if the
product is genuine.
Cabinet member for Community Safety, Councillor Ted Flynn, said:
“Any form of counterfeiting is not only illegal, but often linked
to other crime. Fake tobacco products may also have a detrimental
effect on people’s health over and above that caused by genuine
cigarettes and other tobacco products. This new reading device is a
fantastic way to stop dodgy traders in their tracks.”
Andy Glover, our Chief Trading Standards Officer, said:
“Counterfeit tobacco isn’t a massive problem in the borough –
mainly because we take immediate action against anyone caught
flouting the law. That said, it is something that we like to keep a
close eye on and this new device is a simple and effective checking
mechanism that gives us immediate results.”