Mentions:
1: Andrea Leadsom (Con - South Northamptonshire) be an effective tool to help smokers to quit, we are incredibly worried about the alarming levels of illicit - Speech Link
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking with local authorities to help tackle the illicit tobacco trade.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In January 2021 HMRC and National Trading Standards launched Operation CeCe. This joint initiative builds on decades of partnership working with local Trading Standards Officers.
This supports them to undertake enforcement activity including the sharing of information and intelligence to target and seize illegal tobacco, disruption of the illicit tobacco market and prevention of fraud in their area. In its first two years of operation more than 28 million cigarettes and nearly 8 tonnes of illicit hand rolling-tobacco were seized.
In January this year, HMRC published a new Illicit Tobacco Strategy ‘Stubbing out the problem’. The Strategy sets out how HMRC intends to build on the success of Operation CeCe by increasing the level of funding available to Trading Standards so that it can have an even greater impact in tackling the illicit tobacco trade.
Apr. 16 2024
Source Page: UK Government to tackle global financial corruptionFound: trade of cultural goods/property ¾ Illegal wildlife trade ¾ Illegal logging ¾ Illicit fishing ¾ Illicit
Found: tobacco trade led by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the policy paper entitled Stubbing out the problem: A new strategy to tackle illicit tobacco, published in January 2024, whether the £100 million to be allocated to HMRC and Border Force to tackle the illicit tobacco trade is in addition to the £30 million planned investment announced in the news story entitled Prime Minister to create smokefree generation by ending cigarette sales to those born on or after 1 January 2009, published on 4 October 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The £100 million to be allocated to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force to tackle the illicit tobacco trade will be split over 5 years and represents a proportion of the aforementioned £30 million per year. It will support the delivery of the illicit tobacco strategy.
Mentions:
1: Peter Gibson (Con - Darlington) the result of some people giving up smoking, but we know that the real underlying cause is that the trade - Speech Link
2: Kirsten Oswald (SNP - East Renfrewshire) all vapes would be illicit. - Speech Link
3: Andrea Leadsom (Con - South Northamptonshire) trade in tobacco and vapes. - Speech Link
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle the trade in illicit vapes, in the context of the introduction of duties on vapes at the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Proposals for a Vaping Products Duty which will come in force from October 2026 are set out in the consultation here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/vaping-products-duty-consultation
These include measures to tackle non-compliance, including:
HMRC will collaborate and share intelligence with agencies such as Border Force and Trading Standards, who will have enhanced their capabilities around vaping by the time the duty is introduced.
HMRC also intends to recruit operational staff to enforce the duty, integrating with existing tobacco compliance teams and building on HMRC’s recent success in driving down the tobacco tax gap. This success includes reducing the illicit trade for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% in 2005 to 33.5% in 2021/22 and for cigarettes from 16.9% to 11% over the same period.
Apr. 16 2024
Source Page: UK Government to tackle global financial corruptionFound: UK Government to work with international community to tackle illicit flows of money through increased
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent staff are dedicated to the work of the Illicit Tobacco Taskforce; how often will the taskforce meet; has the taskforce met to date; whether illicit vaping products will be included as part of its remit; and what recent estimate has he made of losses in tax revenue from the illicit trade in (a) tobacco and (b) vaping products in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We plan to establish the taskforce during 2024/25. We are not yet able to give details on meeting frequency or staff numbers.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in illicit and underage vaping, with rates of youth vaping tripling in the last three years. Illicit vapes can contain unknown ingredients, stronger nicotine, and are made available to children through black market channels.
Local enforcement agencies are responsible for ensuring that suppliers and retailers of vapes comply with strict Government regulations. Selling illegal vapes can result in an unlimited fine and even a custodial sentence, as well as imprisonment of up to two years upon conviction.
The Government is significantly increasing investment for our enforcement agencies to tackle these issues. In October 2023 the Prime Minister announced an increase of £30 million per year for enforcement agencies to help stamp out the illicit tobacco and vape trade. This is in addition to the £3 million investment announced in April 2023 to set up a national illicit vapes enforcement unit, aimed at addressing the issue of illegal and underage vaping, which is overseen by National Trading Standards.