£112million against tobacco counterfeiting and smuggling

(Gibraltar Chronicle) One of the world’s biggest tobacco companies has pledged £112 million towards European efforts to smash the illegal trade in cigarettes. British American Tobacco (BAT) is joining forces with the European Commission’s anti-fraud office and national enforcement authorities in the 27 EU countries to counter organised crime worth tens of billions of pounds a year. The deal was sealed at a signing ceremony recently, two years after BAT approached the Commission with plans to step-up the fight against tobacco counterfeiting and smuggling. Estimates put annual losses from the smuggling of genuine and counterfeit cigarettes - those with cheap contents and copied brand logos - at about £8.4 billion a year.(Read the whole story on CampoPulse)