In the Seimas, the idea is to allow tobacco manufacturers to support the fight against smuggling
This week, the Seimas adopted such amendments to the Law on the Control of Tobacco, Tobacco Products and Games with Them, prepared by the Lithuanian faction of regions Remigijus Žemaitaitis, which allow law enforcement institutions to obtain additional resources for such a fight.
Tobacco manufacturers are now prohibited from supporting events, activities, individuals and the media in any form.
“In its time (…) there was a system when tobacco manufacturers had the opportunity to finance with smuggling finances or allocating one or another equipment, cars or other means to reduce the access of those games to the territory of Lithuania,” the Seimas said. R.Žemaitaitis.
“If we could involve the social partners, the private businesses that would contribute to this fight, we would be able to collect more excise duty and value added tax in the budget,” he added.
Conservative Linas Slušnys, who works for the Health Affairs Committee, assured that such links with tobacco manufacturers or traders are not always good.
“It is important for companies to take care of reducing smuggling, because they do not sell it themselves, (…) and if they need to make sure that there is less smuggling, they will take care of higher tax collection in the state budget,” the parliamentarian said.
At the time, “peasant” Aurelijus Veryga warned that Lithuania could not do so, as it had ratified the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco, which obliges states to control any links with the tobacco business.
Among other things, he is convinced that the state has every opportunity to increase the excise duty on a pack of tobacco by 10 cents and collect “enough money that there will not be enough space for those X-ray machines or other equipment to be parked”.
Asta Kubilienė, a member of the same faction, stated that such amendments create preconditions for advertising of tobacco and alcohol producers with the help of state institutions and bodies.
“The adoption of your project has given tobacco and alcohol manufacturers more opportunities to advertise as anti-smuggling, anti-trafficking, and could thus strengthen the public image of their brands at a relatively low cost,” she said.
According to R. Žemaitaitis, organized criminal structures are strong and do not have sufficient financial resources to guard the external border and acquire the necessary tools for financial law enforcement officers.
Gražina Belian, Deputy Director for Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control, “remains open to question whether such support should be used for direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products, which is now banned.
“In our view, this is a more political question of values that needs to be answered politically – whether law enforcement agencies fighting smuggling and trafficking would remain funded by the state budget, or support for such activities and the tobacco industry, which sometimes violates the law. . to law enforcement agencies, ”Belian said to BNS.
If the Seimas adopts such amendments, the procedure applied until 2017, when tobacco manufacturers could support anti-smuggling projects, would return. Then, with the adoption of the Conservative Antanas Matul’s amendment, from 2017, smokers lost the opportunity to support any events, projects or individuals.
According to the data of the Customs Department, during the first quarter of this year, an attempt was made to bring 49.4 million tons into Lithuania. cigarettes and 12,240 kg of tobacco worth more than € 8 million. EUR 449 million was seized in 2021. cigarettes and 60,118 kg of tobacco for more than 82 million. euros.