Customs and Tobacco

2003

WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION

Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:31 Page 1

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Content

Content
1 FOREWORD 2

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

3 AIM OF THE PROJECT 6

4 APPROACH 7
4.1 GENERAL REMARKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2 SCOPE AND SOURCE OF INFORMATION - NATURE OF ASSESSMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3 INCOMPLETE INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.4 NOTABLE SEIZURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

5 REVIEW OF THE LEGITIMATE CIGARETTE TRADE 9

5.1 GLOBAL PRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.2 GLOBAL TRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.3 GLOBAL EXPORTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.3.1 EUROPEAN EXPORT MARKETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.3.2 ASIAN EXPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
5.3.3 MIDDLE EAST EXPORTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
5.3.4 UNITED STATES EXPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.4 SUMMARY FOR THE LEGITIMATE CIGARETTE TRADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6 GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF CIGARETTE SMUGGLING 19

6.1 NUMBER OF SEIZURES AND QUANTITIES SEIZED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.2 PLACE AND TYPE OF LOCATION OF INTERCEPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.3 COUNTRY OF DEPARTURE AND COUNTRY OF DESTINATION: MAIN ROUTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

7 REVIEW OF CIGARETTE SMUGGLING UNDER 100,000 PIECES 23

8 REGIONAL OVERVIEWS OF CIGARETTE SMUGGLING 25

8.1 NORTH AMERICA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
8.2 CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
8.3 NORTH AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
8.4 WESTERN AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
8.5 CENTRAL AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
8.6 EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
8.7 MIDDLE EAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
8.8 ASIA & PACIFIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
8.9 WESTERN EUROPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
8.10 EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
8.11 COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

9 SMUGGLING AND TRADE IN COUNTERFEIT CIGARETTES - ILLICIT PRODUCTION 44

9.1 SMUGGLING OF COUNTERFEIT CIGARETTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
9.2 ILLICIT PRODUCTION OF CIGARETTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
9.3 TRADE IN COUNTERFEIT CIGARETTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

10 REVIEW OF SMUGGLING OF SMOKING (HAND-ROLLING) TOBACCO 47

11 THE WCO, CEN TEAM AND THE RILO NETWORK 48

© D/2004/0448/9 - All rights reserved.

11.1 ROLE OF THE SECRETARIAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

11.2 TASKS OF THE RILOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
11.3 TASKS OF THE NATIONAL CONTACT POINT (NCP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

WCO RILO NETWORK 52

FOOTNOTES 53
ANNEXES 54
WCO MISSION STATEMENT 59
WCO VISION STATEMENT 59
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 59
1
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Foreword
I t is with great pleasure that I present the
third global Report on the illicit trade in
tobacco products. The Report shows that
the illegal trafficking in cigarettes continues
to erode Government revenues and harm
society. The Report includes many facts and
figures and detailed statistical analyses of
trends and methods of smuggling. The
overall analysis demonstrates that tobacco
and cigarette smuggling remains a global
problem, which continues to increase in
spite of Government enforcement strategies.
Cigarettes are of high value, highly taxed,
readily portable and ideal commodities to
be traded illegally. This Report will provide
valuable information to policy-makers and
officials who are involved in the difficult
task of combating cigarette smuggling.
Cigarette smuggling appears to have devel-
oped by organized crime groups as a global
criminal business and generates huge profits
for those involved. During the past year,
there has been a growing concern within the
international law enforcement community
that the transnational criminal organizations
involved in this illegal smuggling may be
2
1. Foreword
linked with international terrorism organi-
zations which are seeking means of funding
their activities.
This Report is based upon an analysis of
both legal and illegal trade in tobacco and
cigarette products. It takes account of data
on the legitimate trade in cigarettes obtained
from the United Nations Statistics Division,
and an analysis of the Customs cigarette and
tobacco seizures contained in the database
of the World Customs Organisation’s
Customs Enforcement Network (CEN).
The analysis of cigarette smuggling is based
on the contributions of 62 WCO Members,
which provided details of 4,381 seizures,
made in 2002 and 2003. I am pleased to re-
port that, due to improvements in reporting
and an increased number of detections, it
has been possible in this year’s report to re-
view the data in a more complete manner at
regional level.
Legal production of tobacco products dur-
ing 2002 decreased by 1.14%; this trend is
expected to continue in 2003, when a fur-
ther reduction of 0.65% is predicted. The
gap between declared exports and imports,
without adjustment for legitimate duty-free
sales, increased from 23% in 2000 to 32%
in 2002. Europe and Asia are the major ex-
porters.
In 2003, the total number of seizures in-
creased by 28% compared to the previous
year. It seems, however, that organized crime
groups are diversifying their smuggling
methods in some regions and are shipping
slightly smaller quantities in each shipment.
This explains the fact that overall the number
of cigarettes seized decreased by 6%.
This Report also includes a chapter concern-
ing the smuggling of smoking tobacco. Of
particular significance is the major increase
in the quantity of smoking tobacco seized in
Western Europe, a development which
seems to reflect a growth in illegal produc-
tion of cigarettes in this region. This is cor-
roborated by the fact that in 2003 Belgian
and German authorities, both dismantled il-
legal cigarette factories. This gives an im-
portant insight of the scale of the
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:31 Page 3
phenomenon considering that the estimated
production capacity of one factory is 2,500
cigarettes per minute or 538 million ciga-
rettes per year.
As outlined in last year’s Report the problem
of counterfeit cigarettes continues to grow.
In 2003, almost 10% of the cigarettes seized
world-wide were identified as counterfeit
and the real figure may well be much higher.
This presents a complex set of problems for
Governments in controlling production and
in detecting counterfeit shipments at export,
import and in transit. Customs also needs
to protect the intellectual property rights of
those businesses involved in legal produc-
tion, which makes the combating of coun-
terfeit cigarettes a multifaceted challenge.
The People’s Republic of China has the
largest production of tobacco world-wide
and has therefore been affected by criminal
groups wishing to exploit the trade in coun-
terfeit cigarettes. The Chinese authorities
have made great efforts in identifying and
closing down a large number of illegal facto-
ries in recent years and China Customs has
also been extremely active in the control of
exports as part of the overall Government
effort, nevertheless the lucrative trade con-
tinues to grow.
Within the overall problem of counterfeit
cigarettes, a relatively new major criminal
trend is emerging. This involves the pro-
duction and shipment of counterfeit ciga-
rettes, which are declared to Customs as
genuine at the point of entry. In this way,
counterfeit cigarettes are introduced into the
licit market and, even though duties and ex-
cise are paid, a substantial profit is still made
by the criminals who no longer incur the
additional costs associated with concealing
the cigarettes. This is a rapidly growing
global problem.
Finally, I would like to commend all those
who through their professionalism and vigi-
lance have enabled seizures to be made and
have identified the new trends in smuggling
that are reflected in this Report. I am sure
that this analysis will be helpful to all those
officials endeavouring to develop interna-
tional, regional and national strategies to
combat the problem.
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Foreword
I thank all those who have contributed to this
Report. We have once again shown the great
potential of the CEN database. Such a tech-
nical report is only as good as the data it has
to analyse. I would therefore urge all admin-
istrations to provide information and reports
of seizures to the CEN and the team responsi-
ble for carrying out studies and analysis in or-
der that more and more intelligence data can
be produced for the benefit of all govern-
ments and Customs administrations.
Yours sincerely,
Michel Danet
Secretary General,
World Customs Organization.
3
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Executive Summary
2. Executive Summary
Sixty-two Member countries recorded infor-
mation on the Customs Enforcement
Network (CEN) database in respect of a to-
tal of 4,381 cigarette seizures carried out in
2002 and 2003. There has been an increase
in Members reporting seizure data, with all
RILO regions being represented. Additional
material on tobacco smuggling was received
from two RILOs and a number of Customs
administrations, which proved extremely
useful in compensating for the absence of
some information. The resulting wider
spread of the available data has made it pos-
sible to analyse cigarette smuggling at a re-
gional level. The Report also includes
overviews of smuggling of smoking (hand-
rolling) tobacco and on the illicit trade in
counterfeit cigarettes as well as including
updated information on the illegal produc-
tion of cigarettes.
An overview of the legitimate cigarette trade
has also been provided, based on data ob-
tained from the United Nations Statistics
Division. The updated information for 2002
has been used. The analysis focuses on the
top five countries emerging worldwide in
terms of the production, import and export
of cigarettes.
The global cigarette trade decreased from
899.4 billion in 2000 to 828 billion in 2002.
The 2001 figure shows a total of 963.3 bil-
lion. Imports fell from 692.3 billion in 2000
to 565.3 billion in 2002.
Europe and Asia are the two major ex-
porters. In both regions, a large number of
cigarettes are exported to another country
within that region. Exports to specific coun-
tries did not remain constant during the pe-
riod under analysis, and the destinations
often changed.
Europe was the main exporter to the Asian
region, with over 26.4 billion items. The
largest number of cigarettes was exported
4
from the United Kingdom to the Republic of
Korea, accounting for more than 10.5 bil-
lion items or 16.5% of its total exports. The
Republic of Korea exported an equivalent
amount to the United Arab Emirates, name-
ly 10.7 billion.
In comparison with the figures for 2000 and
2001, overall exports to the United Arab
Emirates rose from 24.5 billion to 42 bil-
lion, an increase of more than 71%.
In the analysis of cigarette smuggling, the
highest common limit of 100,000 units per
seizure has been considered for reasons of
consistency, since reporting limits are not
the same for every RILO region. Despite the
high number of seizures under the de mini-
mum limit, the selection did not compro-
mise the analysis, since the quantity
involved was not significant within the over-
all total. Countries in the Eastern and
Central European region reported the high-
est number of interceptions under the de
minimum limit.
The analysis considered 965 seizures report-
ed in 2002 and 1,239 in 2003, correspon-
ding to a quantity of around 2.7 and 2.5
billion cigarettes respectively. Globally, the
number of interceptions increased by 28%,
while the total quantity decreased by 6%.
The huge contribution of one single country
in 2003 (Brazil) must be emphasised, since
it affects the figures, particularly in terms of
the total quantity seized, which would oth-
erwise be much lower, accounting for 904
cases and fewer than 2 billion items.
The global extent of cigarette smuggling
clearly emerges from the analysis. The
North African and Middle East regions re-
ported fewer seizures with less contraband
seized, but they still play an important part.
In North America, Canada recorded a huge
increase in detections and in the quantity of
counterfeit cigarettes, almost exclusively
originating in China.
The generally decreasing trend in the num-
ber of seizures and quantity recorded in re-
cent years by the leading regions (Western
Europe, Eastern and Central Europe and
Asia/Pacific) was not so significant when
comparing 2003 with 2002. There was,
however, a notable decrease in the quantity
seized in the Eastern and Central European
region. By contrast, the western European
region shows a general stability both in
terms of the number of seizures and of the
quantity. This means that the same region
still dominates the scene.
Half the total seizures and contraband
seized was concentrated in thirty-one loca-
tions, spread over all continents. In terms of
the number of cases, land frontier locations
were predominant, but the bulk of the
quantity was seized at seaports.
More than 70% of the contraband originat-
ed in fifteen countries, mainly located in the
European and Asian regions. China was the
main source country for consignments
shipped all over the world. Other Asian
countries as well as the United Arab
Emirates were also of significance.
Paraguay was the main source country for
the contraband destined for Brazil,
Zimbabwe for South Africa and Niger for
North Africa.
Countries in Western Europe and Eastern
and Central Europe were also said to be the
source for contraband destined for the
European region, mainly for the UK market.
The true source country is, however, in
most cases unknown, although the phe-
nomenon of the illicit production of ciga-
rettes which has been detected in various
European countries is noteworthy.
Despite the high number of cases entered
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:31 Page 5
into CEN by Members in the South
American region, the data are not sufficient
to allow a greater in-depth analysis of the
methods of smuggling.
In Western Europe, the detection of brands
destined for the UK market is still domi-
nant, although there are increasing quanti-
ties of brands popular in Germany. While
there was a decrease in the use of land vehi-
cles and sea vessels as the mode of con-
veyance in the region, the contraband
smuggled by vessels (mainly container
ships) significantly increased. The cigarettes
were mostly concealed inside or among a
cover load. Larger amounts of contraband
are concealed within legitimate consign-
ments, making the detection of the ciga-
rettes more difficult. Foodstuffs are still the
main type of product used to cover an illicit
consignment, but there was recorded an in-
creasing use of suitcases and vacuum clean-
ers. The use of paper rolls decreased, but it
is felt that attention should still be paid to
consignments of goods packed in rolls.
Especially consignments declared as blocks
of glass sheets, which were detected particu-
larly in Europe, should be considered as
very high-risk goods. These are crates of
glass and wood purposely constructed for
cigarette smuggling.
In Eastern and Central Europe, the decrease
in the number of detections in general is re-
flected in the decrease in seizures of brands
for the UK market. The bulk of intercepted
cigarettes features brands for the regional
market and for Germany. Detections of ciga-
rettes in the structure of the means of trans-
port (mainly road vehicles) were higher than
in 2002, while there was a decrease in the
interception of contraband inside or among
a cover load. This was nevertheless the main
mode of concealment in the region. In
Western Europe, detections of cigarettes in
cover loads of furniture decreased, which
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Executive Summary

2.8 million Superking brand cigarettes
were seized in Halifax/Canada in a
shipment of synthetic sofas and armchairs
arriving by marine container from Hong
Kong, China. Though the shipment was
destined for Vancouver, it was re-
manifested for export to the United
Kingdom.
(Photos courtesy of Canadian Customs)
was, however, not the case in Eastern and been reported. It has been calculated that, at
Central Europe. The use of ovens, with con- maximum capacity, a factory could produce
traband concealed inside them, was com- 538 million cigarettes a year and that the
monly detected in both of these regions. duty evaded could amount to 45,000 euros
per hour.
The CEN database contains 40 records relat-
ing to smuggled cigarettes which were Seizures of smoking (hand-rolling) tobacco
found to be counterfeit. They represent in 2003 showed a 15% global decrease in
3.2% of all reported seizures in 2003 over terms of the number of cases but a 40% in-
the de minimum limit and 9.7% of the total crease in quantity. There was a large increase
quantity seized. The recorded figures still do in the quantity seized in Western Europe.
not appear to be in line with the true situa- This is not surprising if the information on
tion. The bulk of consignments seized in the illegal production of tobacco products in
Canada were of counterfeit brands for the the European region is also considered.
domestic market originating in China,
which was the main reported source coun-
try for smuggled counterfeit cigarettes.
The CEN database has been fed particularly
in 2003 with information on various detec-
tions of counterfeit cigarettes which have
been seized, since they were shown to be in-
fringing products (IPR commodities). The
few seizures reported do not permit any
analysis of the phenomenon of the trade in
counterfeit cigarettes for the time being. An
important indication is provided by the sta-
tistics published by the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, showing that both in
2002 and 2003 the principal counterfeit
commodity seized was cigarettes, mainly
originating in China.
In 2003, the illicit production of cigarettes
was identified in Europe in particular, with
three detections of illicit factories having
5
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Aim of the Project

3. Aim of the Project

For the last two years, the WCO has pre-
sented an annual report analysing all ciga-
rette and tobacco seizures notified by its
Members. A number of factors have con-
tributed to the continuing importance of
cigarette smuggling on the part of many
Customs administrations: the level of ciga-
rette smuggling globally remains high, there
appears to be an increasing involvement of
organized crime in this traffic, clearly at-
tracted by the huge profits generated by the
illicit trade. There is also a possibility that il-
licit cigarette trafficking is used as a source
of finance by terrorist organisations.

For these reasons, it has been decided to

produce a third analysis of global seizures,
carried out by WCO Members in 2003 and
reported through the CEN system. As with
both the previous analyses, this analysis has
been carried out by RILO Western Europe.

The aim of the project is:

to produce a situation report and analysis
reviewing cigarette smuggling and diversion
to illicit market activities on a worldwide
basis in order to support risk analysis for the
purpose of assisting anti-smuggling efforts
on the part of Customs administrations
worldwide.

Austrian Customs seized 3.7

million Sovereign cigarettes
concealed inside planks of wood.
A similar method of concealment
was detected in Sweden where
nearly 28 million counterfeit
cigarettes of the brand Prince,
Marlboro and Superkings were
seized.

(photo courtesy of Austrian Customs)

6
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:31 Page 7
4. Approach
4.1. General remarks
The Report contains two main general sec-
tions: a review of the legitimate cigarette
trade and a review of tobacco smuggling.
The first section contains an analysis of the
most recent data concerning the legitimate
trade in cigarettes, and it was drafted follow-
ing the principle that “to know the legal is to
understand the illegal”. This section pro-
vides interesting information and points for
consideration in respect of the general fig-
ures for production, import and export. It is
largely based on the United Nations Statistic
Division database. As was the case with the
2002 data used in last year’s Report, com-
plete data for 2003 were not available when
drafting this Report.
This first section was produced by the
Central Excise Unit (CPA) located in
Rotterdam (NL) within the Netherlands
Customs Administration.
The second section is mainly based on the
information provided to the CEN database,
including a special chapter dedicated to the
counterfeit and illicit production of ciga-
rettes. This section was produced by RILO
WE located in Cologne with a contribution
made by RILO A/P located in Beijing.
4.2. Scope and source of information -
nature of assessment
The Report covers all relevant records avail-
able in the CEN database. The additional in-
formation provided by some Member States
in the form of reports has also been consid-
ered when necessary for a better under-
standing of the subject, especially when no
data were available on CEN. When the addi-
tional information is, exceptionally, used as
the basis of the analysis, it is specified in the
Report.
The annexes provide all information entered
into the CEN database by the Member States
in respect of the number of cases and the
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Approach
quantity of cigarettes seized.
For the purpose of consistency, only
seizures of 100,000 items or more have
been taken into consideration in the global
and regional analysis, as the reporting limits
are not the same in all RILO regions.
However, a special chapter has been dedi-
cated to seizures below that limit.
The following table shows the different re-
porting limits.
Only seizures carried out by Customs, joint
Customs and Police units or by other law en-
forcement agencies having Customs powers
are included in the analysis. More informa-
tion from different regions has been reported
in 2003. To provide a more consistent pic-
ture of the phenomenon, the analysis is de-
tailed by region after a global overview. The

In 2002 Hungarian Customs and Finance regions correspond in principle to the
Guard seized nearly 500,000 Superkings RILOs, where established. In this context,
cigarettes concealed in the structure of a however, Israel has been considered as part
tank trailer registered in the Ukraine. Tank
and silo trailers are still commonly used by of the Middle East region. North America in-
smugglers. cludes the USA, Canada and Mexico, while
Central and South America comprises the
(photo courtesy of Hungarian Customs and Finance
Guard) combined geographical region covered by
the RILOs of South America and the
Caribbean. Within that region, it is of note
REPORTING LIMITS
(Tobacco commodity) by region
Asia and Pacific No limit
Caribbean No limit
Central Africa No limit
Commonwealth of Independent States 400 items
Eastern and Central Europe 50,000 items
Eastern and Southern Africa 200 items
Middle East No limit
North Africa No limit
South America No limit
Western Africa No limit
Western Europe Cigarettes/cigars:100,000;
Smoking tobacco: no limit
North America (Canada) No limit
7
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:31 Page 8

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Approach

Notable seizures

CEN ID Quantity Date Year Country Location Location type Route

51618 28,840,000 22-Feb-02 2002 China Shi Shi Inland UN-CN

32127 80,500,000 08-Apr-02 2002 Lebanon Beirut Seaport CY-TR-LB
35586 62,930,000 12-Apr-02 2002 Belgium Courtrai/Kortrijk Inland FR-BE
51589 21,970,000 09-May-02 2002 China Qingdao Inland KR-CN
34757 25,000,000 12-May-02 2002 Ireland Dublin Seaport US-NL-IE
37706 30,610,000 25-Jul-02 2002 Lithuania Salociai Land frontier EE-LT-PL
72770 31,900,000 09-Sep-02 2002 Greece Piraeus Seaport EG-GR
45143 20,000,000 05-Dec-02 2002 Israel Ashdod Seaport UN-IL
58816 24,810,000 10-Apr-03 2003 Italy Genoa Seaport EG-IT-LY
55792 27,304,000 23-Jun-03 2003 Sweden Stugsund Seaport RU-SE
77474 64,728,000 12-Nov-03 2003 China Dandong Seaport KP-CN

that the Cuban Customs made available de-
tails of tobacco smuggling in their country,
where the principal risk is the illicit export of
cigars. 1 This commodity is not otherwise
covered in the present report.
4.3. Incomplete information
4.4. Notable seizures
Because exceptionally large seizures might
distort the analysis, this paragraph draws at-
tention to the largest seizures reported to
the CEN database, all of which exceed 20
million cigarettes.

It is unfortunate that some Members do not
report all the cigarette seizures which they
have carried out, while others do not report
any. The WCO, in co-operation with RILO
WE, has already launched initiatives to in-
clude in future reports the information
which is not available from CEN. As a gen-
eral comment on those seizures which are
reported, details of brand, departure and
destination country, mode of transport, cov-
er load and mode of concealment are, again
unfortunately, often absent or incorrectly re-
ported. Very few records in the database in-
dicated the use of detection equipment. The
number was not sufficient to permit any re-
liable further analysis on this point.
No seizures have been reported from the re-
gions of the Caribbean and Central African
RILOs in 2003. The latter, however, made
available a report on tobacco smuggling, as
did RILO CIS. These are mentioned in the
relevant chapters.
The figures indicate that the above-men-
tioned seizures do not distort the analysis
globally.
When the individual regions are considered,
these seizures should, however, be borne in
mind so that the picture that develops is ac-
curate.
It should also be said that single seizures of
more than 20 million cigarettes were report-
ed by Brazil. They were, in fact, aggregated
figures from seizures carried out on the
same day or over a very short period of time.

In December 2003 boxes of Remington
Gold were seized in a truck in the Gauteng
region (South Africa). The cigarettes were
concealed amongst the consignment of
paprika arriving from Zimbabwe and
destined for Durban.
(Photos courtesy of South African Customs).

8
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

5. Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

This section is largely based on data Selection
o b t a i n e d f ro m t h e U n i t e d N a t i o n The eleven countries shown in the following graph represent the top 5 producers, importers
Statistics Division (UNSD). and exporters of cigarettes. The number allocated shows the country’s position within the
top 5.

This review will provide a summary of

the legitimate cigarette trade for the 1
year 2002, comprising data on the pro- 3
4 2
duction, import and export of cigarettes
for that year. Export data will take
precedence in the summary. The full set
of data for 2003 is not yet available. The 1 3 3 2 1 5 4
data in the UN database covers more 4
than 140 countries, and this review
5
highlights the most important countries 5 2
in terms of the cigarette trade. The se-
lection criteria are the top 5 countries in
terms of production, imports and ex-
ports. The selection pinpointed eleven
China

Japan

Singapore

Russian
Federation

France

Germany

Italy

Netherlands

Spain

United Kingdom

United States
countries whose exports account for
over 75% of global trade. In addition to
the countries selected, eight more
Imports
countries have been taken into account
Exports
as their 2002 figures differ significantly Production
from previous years. China’s results
cannot be compared to those for 2000
Additional countries
and 2001, as no detailed data is avail-
The figures also highlight the next eight countries in terms of production, imports and exports
able for 2000. and the reasons for their selection.

Croatia
25% increase in exports
Hong Kong, China
Administrative area of China
Macau, China
Administrative area of China
Indonesia
Decrease in production, increase in trade by over 15%
Republic of Korea
100% increase in exports
Malaysia
25 % decrease in exports
Philippines
Increase in production and imports
Turkey
Increase in production and exports
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

the difference between the two figures. The

5.1. Global Production statistics for 2000-2002, without adjust-
5.3. Global exporters
ment for legitimate duty-free sales, highlight
Global cigarette production for 2002 was An exporter zone is the geographical region
some noteworthy points. The difference ex-
predicted to fall to 5,612 billion pieces. The whence the exports originate. According to
pressed as a percentage of declared exports
actual figure for 2002 shows a total of 5,572 the chart below, Europe is the world’s largest
has increased appreciably over the three
billion, a 1.14% decrease from 2001. The exporter zone, followed by Asia. These two
years.
forecast for 2003 is a further 0.65% decrease regions account for over 77% of the nine-
to 5,536 billion pieces. In millions 2000 2001 2002 teen countries’ export figures. The chart be-
(Source: Foreign Agricultural Service. USDA) low illustrates the main exporter zones.
Exports 899,430 963,337 828,055
Imports 692,280 677,668 565,249 Exporter zones
5.2. Global Trade Difference 207,150 285,669 262,806
Percentage 23% 29% 32% Region In million pieces
Total global cigarette exports decreased from
899.4 billion in 2000 to 828 billion in 2002. Europe 350,293
Based on the data from selected countries, this
Asia 129,265
The 2001 figure shows a total of 963.3 bil- section of the chapter will describe the various
America 127,383
lion. Imports fell from 692.3 billion in export markets and attempt to give a picture Middle East 15,330
2000 to 565.3 billion in 2002. It should be of the main routes used in the global cigarette 622,271
noted that some of the cigarettes exported trade. The following table provides data for
were legitimately sold duty-free to travellers, 2002, for selected countries and regions, in
diplomats and military personnel, and this terms of the quantity and percentage of the to-
must account for a significant proportion of tal world trade (sorted by exports).

In million pieces Region Production Imports Exports

Netherlands Western Europe 126,292 21,689 135,831

United States America 532,000 27,013 127,383
Germany Western Europe 212,500 35,895 118,166
United Kingdom Northern Europe 133,014 10,272 63,987
56.29% Europe 20.47% America
Rep. of Korea Asia 93,750 20,172 28,511
20.77% Asia 2.46% Middle East
Indonesia Asia 200,358 41 25,802
Singapore Asia 12,875 15,731 20,887
Japan Asia 229,000 83,466 20,160
France Western Europe 39,400 63,751 17,829
China Asia 1,709,505 1,370 16,194
Turkey Middle East 130,830 10 15,330
Croatia Southern Europe 14,750 27 7,387
Malaysia Asia 26,100 2,113 6,917
Hong Kong, China Asia 12,554 20,560 6,888
Spain Southern Europe 62,752 41,396 4,048
Philippines Asia 81,000 9,333 3,000
Russian Federation Eastern Europe 375,000 6,736 2,623
Macau, China Asia 7,000 1,112 906
Italy Southern Europe 37,989 64.793 422
Total 4,036,669 425,480 622,271
World total 5,572,010 565,249 828,055
Percentage 72 75 75

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

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5.3.1 E UROPEAN EXPORT MARKETS

European region Southern Europe Destination Million pieces

The European region is divided into In 2002, Italy, Spain and Croatia exported
Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western cigarettes to 26 European countries. Croatia Germany 7,781
Europe. Over 95% of European exports are exported to Bosnia Herzegovina (4,476 mil- Belgium 7,316
Spain 7,065
bound for another region within Europe. lion pieces) and to Serbia and Montenegro
Greece 5,115
(2,300 million pieces).
Sweden 2,084
Northern Europe Luxembourg 1,411
In 2002, the United Kingdom exported cig- Western Europe Portugal 701
arettes to 32 different European countries. The main export destination for Western Bulgaria 624
Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Europe was that same region and Southern Switzerland 513
France and the Russian Federation were the Europe. The Netherlands was the major ex- Ireland 427
destinations for more than 85% of the porter to Europe and the world. Over United Kingdom 403
United Kingdom’s total cigarette exports. 134,000 million cigarettes were exported Finland 341
Denmark 275
from the Netherlands, mainly to France
Estonia 161
Eastern Europe (50,168 million pieces) and Italy (49,915
Austria 105
In 2002 the Russian Federation exported ciga- million pieces). Out of the remaining 33 Total 34,322
rettes to 5 European countries, namely destination countries, the top ten were as
Germany, Spain, Moldova, Lithuania and follows.
Ukraine.
Exporter In million Northern Eastern Southern Western
zone/market pieces Europe Europe Europe Europe

Northern Europe 18,525 404 1,355 7,685 9,081

Eastern Europe 1,265 101 1,144 20 0
Southern Europe 9,679 1 301 8,050 1,327
Western Europe 246,076 15,291 6,277 120,426 104,082
275,545 15,797 9,077 136,181 114,490

Asian region United Kingdom exporting 19,200 million tries of destination and the important role
Asia was a major destination for European cigarettes and Germany 5,007 million. played by the United Kingdom and
exports, and over 26,478 million cigarettes Germany, which together accounted for
were exported to 27 countries. In addition The following table shows the major coun- 98% of the exports.
to this figure, the data showed that some
7,494 million cigarettes were exported to a Destination Million
Millions United Germany Share
region described as “Asia n.e.s.” (n.e.s.= not depieces
pieces Kingdom
Kingdom (UK+GER)
(UK+GER)
elsewhere specified). Exports by Germany
equated to 5,473 million and those by the Rep. of Korea 11,946 10,581 1,191 11,772
United Kingdom to 2,021 million. Both Hong Kong, China 5,120 4,297 751 4,348
Singapore 3,868 3,445 391 3,836
these countries were also the main exporters
Japan 3,040 402 2,456 2,858
to the 27 countries mentioned, with the
Total 23,974 18,725 4,789 23,514
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

Middle East region Destination Million Germany United France Share

The second largest destination region for pieces Kingdom (GER+UK+FR)
European exports was the Middle East, and
United Arab Emirates 5,471 1,570 3,591 296 5,457
more than 22,319 million cigarettes were
Saudi Arabia 3,544 346 3,158 40 544
exported to 16 countries. The following
Bahrain 2,273 290 1,984 2,274
table shows the most important countries of Turkey 2,151 1,117 724 188 2,029
destination. The United Kingdom, Germany Lebanon 2,022 932 318 773 2,023
and France together accounted for almost Total 15,461 4,255 9,775 1,297 15,327
100% of the exports.

African region Summary for Europe

Over 15,022 million cigarettes were exported
to 43 countries within this region. The fol-
lowing table shows the main countries of des-
tination. The United Kingdom accounted for
nearly 90% of these exports, with Germany,
Spain and the Netherlands accounting for the
other 10%, mainly to Djibouti.
The following table shows the totals for the
export destinations of selected European
countries. In this summary, the figures for a
number of European countries that are ma-
jor exporter countries and the countries to
which they export will be compared to
those for 2000 and 2001.

Destination Million United 2002 situation

pieces Kingdom
Country Europe Africa America Asia Middle East Other Total
Benin 2,735 2,714
Djibouti 1,603 631 Netherlands 134,614 248 115 650 70 98 135,795
Nigeria 5,172 5,169 Germany 98,784 816 318 10,480 7,699 64 118,161
Guinea 1,432 1,127 United Kingdom 18,525 12,705 634 21,311 10,518 295 63,988
Mali 1,019 1,006 France 12,678 572 205 578 3,514 281 17,828
Total 11,961 10,647 Croatia 7,337 1 40 9 7,387
Spain 2,116 681 1,143 24 15 68 4,047
Russian Fed. 1,265 1 914 442 2 2,624
American region Italy 226 2 6 60 128 422
North America is the most important mar- Total 275,545 15,023 2,458 33,972 22,318 936 350,252
ket in this region. Exports to the United
States amounted to over 1,921 million ciga-
Breakdown of the destination regions
rettes, or slightly over 78% of the total of
2,458 million cigarettes exported to the Europe Belgium Africa Benin
American continent as a whole. The United Bosnia Herzegovina Djibouti
Kingdom exported some 572 million ciga- Czech Republic Guinea
rettes to the United States, and Spain some France Mali
1,128 million. Germany Nigeria
In addition to the United States, two other Greece Asia Asia n.e.s.
major markets in this region, namely Italy Hong Kong, China
Canada and Panama, imported 145 million Lithuania Japan
Moldova Republic of Korea
and 276 million cigarettes respectively.
Netherlands Singapore
Russian Federation America United States
Serbia and Montenegro Middle East Bahrain
Spain Lebanon
Ukraine Saudi Arabia
United Kingdom Turkey
Africa Benin United Arab Emirates
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

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The exports by selected European countries The following table shows cigarette exports
to their main countries of destination have (in million pieces).
risen by some 40 billion cigarettes, or 18%
in numerical terms, since 2000. There was a Region 2000 2001 2002 Difference Percentage
10% increase in 2001. The Netherlands ac-
counted for over 26% of this increase. Europe 16,770 15,894 13,947 - 2,823 - 16,8 %
Exports to Italy and France have risen to Africa 6,227 7,628 10,647 + 4,420 + 70,9 %
nearly 50 billion cigarettes per country since Asia 21,127 20,633 20,746 - 381 - 1,8 %
2000. Cigarette production in the Middle East 9,095 9,618 9,775 + 680 + 7,5 %
Netherlands has increased from 120.4 bil- Total 53,219 53,773 55,115 + 1,896 + 3,5 %
lion to 126.5 billion pieces, and imports
from 19 billion to 21.6 billion. Changes have taken place not only between
the regions, but also within them. Inside
Germany took second place, with its overall Europe, exports to Germany increased
exports increasing by more than 17% over sharply from 1,551 million to 2,930 million
the same period, although there was a 2.7% pieces, while exports to Belgium and the
downturn in exports in 2002. Netherlands decreased sharply from 8,781
million to 4,642 million pieces.
The most significant growth area was in ex-
ports to Spain, rising from 21.9 billion to In the Asian region, exports to the Republic
34.2 billion, or 56% in numerical terms. of Korea rose by 6,554 million pieces from
Exports to the Netherlands and Greece were 4,027 million to 10,581 million, and look
also on the increase, while exports to France set to overtake Singapore. Exports to the lat-
and the United Kingdom fell sharply. There ter destination fell from 10,380 million to
was a 50% downturn in exports to France 3,445 million pieces in 2002. Hong Kong
and a 20% downturn in exports to the China dropped to 1,513 million pieces,
United Kingdom, equating to 9.6 billion while the not elsewhere specified destina-
and 1.8 billion pieces respectively. tions in Asia (Asia n.e.s.) accounted for
2,021 million pieces.
A rapidly growing market is the Middle
East, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Cigarette production in the United Kingdom
the United Arab Emirates. Exports to these has increased since 2000 to 130 billion ciga-
countries increased from 1,964 million rettes. Imports have risen to 2.3 billion
pieces to 2,406 million in 2002. Cigarette pieces, or by 29% in numerical terms.
production in Germany for the period
2000-2002 equated to approximately 135
billion pieces and imports increased from
33.2 billion to 35.8 billion cigarettes.

More than 2 million cigarettes of
the brands Player’s and
The United Kingdom exports to the largest
DuMaurier were seized in
number of countries, namely 117. Twenty of Vancouver by Canadian
these countries accounted for 83% of the Customs. The illicit consignment
United Kingdom’s exports. Total exports in- originated in China and was
concealed among markers and
creased slightly from 53.2 billion to 55.1 bil-
pens.
lion, with changes in the different regions.
(Photos courtesy of Canadian Customs)

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

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5.3.2 A SIAN EXPORTS Asian region Indonesia’s exports to (in millions)

Exports within the Asian region accounted
With total exports of 129,265 million ciga- 9,303
for more than 68% of Asia’s total exports
rettes, based on the nineteen countries se- and for more than 76% for the selected
lected, the Asian region is the second largest countries. The following graph shows the 8,146
exporter. Just like the European region, breakdown by country.
most of the exports were to another country
within the region. Exports outside the re- Indonesia
gion were mainly to the Middle East. The Indonesia was the Asian region’s major ciga-
following table shows the different regions rette exporter (24 billion of its total of 25.8
and the number of cigarettes exported to the billion cigarettes exported went to four coun-
most important countries of destination. tries). Exports were made to 17 countries, of
which the four most important were: see chart.
Asia 88,498 millions
Middle East 14,627 millions Singapore
America 9,123 millions Singapore was the second largest Asian ex-
3,404
Europe 1,786 millions porter (15.8 billion of its total of 20.8 billion 3,151
Africa 1,481 millions cigarettes exported went to four countries).
Total 115,515 millions Exports were made to 23 countries, of which
the four most important were: see chart.
Country Million pieces
Republic of Korea
Cambodia

Singapore

Malaysia
Thailand

Macau, China 906 The Republic of Korea exported 13.9 billion

Philippines 985 cigarettes within the Asian region, account-
Hong Kong, China 3,717 ing for 48.7% of its total cigarette exports.
Malaysia 4,783
Its exports went to 16 countries, including
Japan 7,999 Total of 24 billion (24,004 million)
China 9,794 9,220 million pieces to Afghanistan and
Rep. of Korea 15,678 4,711 to Turkmenistan.
Singapore 20,133
Indonesia 24.503 China
TOTAL 88,498 China, the world’s largest cigarette producer Singapore’s exports to (in millions)
and consumer, exported 9.794 billion ciga-
5,767
rettes within the Asian region out of its total
global exports of 16.1 billion. It exported
cigarettes to 15 countries, of which the five
most important were: see chart on page 15. 4,172

Japan 3,480
The last of the five major exporter countries
is Japan, which exported 8 billion cigarettes
2,414
to the Asian region out of its 20.1 billion to-
tal global exports. It exported cigarettes to 7
countries, of which the Republic of Korea
Philippines

Cambodia

(3,870 million) and Singapore (2,965 mil-

Malaysia

Vietnam

1 % Macau, China 11 % China

1 % Philippines 18 % Rep. of Korea lion) were the most important markets.
4 % Hong Kong, China 23 % Singapore Japan also exported over 10.3 billion ciga-
5 % Malaysia 28 % Indonesia rettes to Asia n.e.s.
9 % Japan Total of 15.8 billion (15,833 million)

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Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

China’s exports to (in millions) Middle East

The second region of destination for Asia is
the Middle East. The selected Asian coun-
4,499
tries exported over 14 billion cigarettes to
13 countries. The following table shows the
quantity per exporting country and the
main destinations.

1,277 823 737 572 Exported by Million Main Million

pieces destination pieces
Hong Kong, China

Singapore

Malaysia

Republic of Korea 10,779 United Arab Emirates 10,777

Hong Kong, China 1,528 Cyprus 740
Japan
Myanmar

Georgia 570
United Arab Emirates 160
China 1.007 United Arab Emirates 828
Cyprus 101
Total of 7.9 billion (7,908 million) Jordania 78
Indonesia 498
Other Asian regions Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines 445
The other four selected Asian countries
(Malaysia, Hong Kong China, Macau China Country of destination - In million pieces
Europe
and the Philippines) exported a total of 10.3
Europe is a minor destination region for ex-
billion cigarettes within the Asian region out of ports from the Asian region. 1,786 million
their 15.3 billion total exports. Exports were cigarettes were exported to Europe from 27
made to 53 countries in the Asian region. countries. Each country exported less than
0.4 billion cigarettes.
The following table shows the main coun-
tries of destination.

Africa
374 Russian Federation
Exports to the African region are rather low.
223 Netherlands
1,481 million cigarettes were exported to 30
184 Italy
countries. China and Hong Kong, China we- 116 Germany
re the main exporters, with a total of 1,441 88 United Kingdom
million pieces. The following table shows the 56 France
most important countries of destination.

Country of destination Million pieces Exported by

Niger 396 China

South Africa 258 China
Equatorial Guinea 115 Hong Kong, China
Nigeria 105 Hong Kong, China
Gambia 71 Hong Kong, China
Benin 67 Hong Kong, China

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America United States Canada Panama Chile Total

Exports to the American region accounted
for over 9.1 billion cigarettes sent to 16 China 2,620 333 307 213 3,473
countries. The following table shows the Republic of Korea 1,628 13 1,641
Philippines 1,490 1,490
main exporting countries and their destina-
Malaysia 289 29 10 328
tions in million pieces.
Indonesia 347 95 442
Hong Kong, China 23 19 9 51
Summary for Asia Singapore 120 120
The following table gives an overview of Japan 1,402 1,402
Asian exports for the selected countries. Total 7,919 428 368 232 8,947
In the review, a number of Asian countries
playing a significant role as exporting
countries and their countries of destination
will be compared with the figures for 2000
and 2001.

2002 situation

Country Asia Middle East America Europe Africa Others Total

China 9,802 1,007 3,536 382 752 716 16,195 A full comparison with data for 2000 and
Korea 15,722 10,779 1,666 282 1 66 28,516 2001 could not be made due to a lack of in-
Japan 18,323 109 1,423 279 1 28 20,163 formation about China’s exports in the data-
Indonesia 24,506 498 477 254 61 9 25,805 base consulted. A comparison was
Malaysia 5,902 133 336 84 54 411 6,920 consequently made without taking account
Singapore 20,200 372 120 175 17 5 20,889
of the Chinese figures. Exports to the remain-
Philippines 987 203 1,504 270 6 31 3,001
Hong Kong, China 4,621 1,528 61 60 589 37 6,896 ing eight countries in the Asian region in rela-
Macau, China 906 0 906 tion to their main countries of destination
Total 100,969 14,629 9,123 1,786 1,481 1,303 129,291 increased by 13.7 billion pieces in 2001, but
then decreased by 18.2 billion in 2002.
Breakdown of the destination regions Overall exports decreased by 4.5 billion
pieces, or 5.4% in numerical terms. Total
Europe France Asia Cambodia global exports decreased by 5.5%.
Germany Hong Kong, China
Italy Japan
Netherlands Macau, China Over 31% of cigarette exports were made to
Russian Federation Malaysia Indonesia. Although there was an increase of
United Kingdom Myanmar 8,7 billion pieces (or 38.7%) in 2001, 2002
Africa Benin Philippines exports dropped to 25.3 billion. However,
Equatorial Guinea Republic of Korea there was still an overall increase of 3.3 bil-
Gambia Singapore lion pieces or 15%. The Asian region is the
Nigeria Thailand most important region with more than 24.3
Niger Vietnam billion pieces. Cambodia and Singapore were
South Africa America Canada
the main destinations in 2002. A summary of
Chile
Panama the countries of destination would not be
United States particularly meaningful as the order of im-
Middle East Cyprus portance of the countries changes every year.
Georgia
Jordan The following table therefore shows exports
United Arab Emirates in million pieces for the period 2000-2002.
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Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

The table shows that cigarette exports by Country 2000 2001 2002 2002 %
Japan and the Republic of Korea increased
significantly. Exports from Japan to Singapore Hong Kong, China 24,044 23,410 4974 6,29
increased from 735 to 2,965 million pieces. Indonesia 22,002 30,538 25,304 31,98
The Republic of Korea’s exports to the United Japan 2,238 5,397 9,727 12,29
Korea 3,402 7,544 12,668 16,01
States increased from 404 to 1,628 million
Malaysia 8,144 7,437 4,678 5,91
pieces. The greatest leap was made in terms
Philippines 2,982 3,180 2,705 3,42
of exports to the United Arab Emirates, rising Singapore 19,862 18,923 18,258 23,08
from 2,739 million to 10,777 million pieces. Macau, China 961 907 800 1,01
Total 83,635 97,336 79,114
The Middle East (Cyprus, Jordan and the
United Arab Emirates) is a rapidly growing
market. Exports to the United Arab Emirates
have increased exponentially over the past
three years by nearly 300%.

5.3.3 MIDDLE EAST EXPORTERS

The Middle East region is the third biggest

exporter. Turkey, the only country singled
Country Million
out, exported more than 15.3 billion ciga- pieces
rettes. Within its own region, it sent more
than 7.3 billion pieces to the United Arab Belgium 4,383
Emirates. Europe is the other main region of Slovenia 1,010
destination, accounting for the following ex- Latvia 416
Greece 215
ports as shown in the table.
Serbia and Montenegro 84
Romania 29
The only exports made to the Asian region Lithuania 9
were to Afghanistan (728 million) and Iran Bulgaria 8
(797 million). Turkey also exported 180 Germany 6
million pieces to the United States. Netherlands 4
Total 6,164
Summary for the Middle East
In comparison with previous years, Turkey’s
exports increased from 12.2 billion pieces to
15.3 billion pieces, or by 25%. Exports to
the United Arab Emirates increased sharply
from 5,954 million pieces to 7,372 million
pieces, or by 24%.

17
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Review of the legitimate cigarette trade

5.3.4 U NITED S TATES EXPORTS exported over 17.3 billion pieces to the
United Arab Emirates. These included
Destination 2002 2001 2000 Australia, which was the main exporter with
approximately 9.9 billion pieces.
Asia Japan 77,945 75,464 77,798
(12 countries) Republic of Korea 3,601 6,233 4,681 In comparison with the figures for 2000 and
Hong Kong, China 2,783 2,830 3,164
2001, exports to the United Arab Emirates
Singapore 2,469 2,483 3,396
Iran 1,527 increased from 24.5 billion to 42 billion, or
Asia n.e.s. 1,901 over 71%. In those two years, Cyprus was
90,226 87,010 89,039 the main exporter to the United Arab
Middle East Saudi Arabia 11,675 11,269 10,637 Emirates with a total of 15.2 billion pieces.
(16 countries) Israel 4,567 4,560 4,437
Lebanon 3,912 5,716 4,227
During the period 2000-2002, the United
Kuwait 1,771 2,013 1,750
Syria 1,000 906 498 Arab Emirates exported 90% of its cigarettes
22,925 24,464 21,549 to Oman. In 2002, only 7% were exported
Europe Belgium 2,570 2,663 6,691 to Iran, but at the same time Iran was the
(20 countries) Netherlands 913 1,887 226 main export destination country for Oman’s
3,483 4,550 6,917 cigarette exports. The table below shows the
Total 116,634 116,024 117,505
export data for Oman to Iran in million
America
(16 countries) Total 1,453 pieces. Detailed and reliable data for Iran’s
Africa exports is not available.
(16 countries)
Total 48

In 2002, the United States exported more
than 127.3 billion cigarettes globally.
Exports to other selected countries amount-
ed to 97.6 billion pieces.
The following table shows exports in mil-
lion pieces to the various regions and the
main countries of destination, including the
data for 2000 and 2001.
Summary for America
United States exports remained stable for
the period 2000-2002. Exports to the Asian
region rose by 1.3%, while those to the
European region fell by 50%.
Exports to the Middle East region increased
by 6.4% and this is still the second region of
destination after the Asian region (in which
Iran is a new destination). The United States
is the only one of the selected countries that
exports a significant number of cigarettes to
countries such as Syria, Kuwait, Israel and
Saudi Arabia.
Exports to Japan increased slightly to 90 bil-
lion pieces.
18
5.4. Summary for the 2000 2001 2002
legitimate cigarette trade Exports from
UAE 30,517 34,170 34,181
Europe and Asia are the two major ex- Oman 30,072 32,892 26,051
porters. In both regions, a large number of Iran 6,948
Exports from Oman 11,590 27,905 24,828
cigarettes are exported to another country
Iran 10,937 27,378 24,613
within that region. Exports to specific coun-
tries did not remain constant during the pe-
riod under observation, and the destinations
often changed.
Europe was the main exporter to the Asian
region, with over 26.4 billion pieces. The
largest number of cigarettes was exported
from the United Kingdom to the Republic of
Korea, and equated to over 10.5 billion
pieces or 16.5% of the United Kingdom’s to-
tal cigarette exports. The Republic of Korea
exported an equivalent amount to the
United Arab Emirates, namely 10.7 billion.
It is worth noting that in 2002, overall ex-
ports to the United Arab Emirates amounted
to 42 billion cigarettes. Countries not selected
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 19

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Global overview of cigarette smuggling

6. Global overview of cigarette smuggling

6.1. Number of seizures and 2002 – Number of cases 2003 – Number of cases
quantities seized

The analysis of cigarette smuggling activity

is based on a total of 4,381 seizures carried
out in 2002 and 2003. Sixty-two WCO
Members contributed to the project.2

The total number of cases below the

100,000 limit is 1,056 for 2002 and 1,121
for 2003. Despite the relatively high number
of seizures below the de minimum level,
they are not significant within the total. The
respective quantities are: 38,149,134 in
2002 and 30,889,318 in 2003, correspon- 74 Asia and Pacific 67 Asia and Pacific
ding to 1.4% and 1.2% of the total quanti- 38 Middle East 13 Middle East

ties reported in the two years. In the 48 North Africa 26 North Africa
0 Western Africa 2 Western Africa
following, only seizures exceeding 100,000
14 Eastern and Southern Africa 24 Eastern and Southern Africa
cigarettes are taken into consideration. 11 North America
1 North America
5 Central and South America 342 Central and South America
The seizures recorded in the CEN database 264 Eastern and Central Europe 288 Eastern and Central Europe
come to a total of 965 in 2002 and 1,239 in 44 CIS 5 CIS
2003. The quantities seized are 477 Western Europe 461 Western Europe
2,724,921,590 and 2,559,483,371 respec-
tively. Globally, the number of interceptions
increased by 28%, while the total quantity
seized decreased by 6%. The 2003 figures 2002 – Quantity 2003 – Quantity
from Brazil should be emphasized, since
they affect the figures.

The graphs show the numbers and quantities

reported by each WCO RILO region.

The graphs show the global extent of ciga-

rette smuggling. Despite a decrease in the
number of cases and quantities reported by
the North African and Middle East regions,
these continue to have an important role.
The figures for North America are of note in
that Canada is the only country in that re-
gion which records seizures on the CEN 305,259,740 Asia and Pacific 247,359,703 Asia and Pacific
database. It is pleasing that there has been 295,765,660 Middle East 52,445,340 Middle East

an increase in Members reporting seizure 135,662,600 North Africa 51,866,600 North Africa
0 Western Africa 612,800 Western Africa
data. This increase has certainly affected the
42,153,400 Eastern and Southern Africa 51,201,240 Eastern and Southern Africa
comparative picture between 2002 and
5,440,000 North America 54,422,820 North America
2003: Brazil, for example, in the Central and 28,068,800 Central and South America 603,343,600 Central and South America
South American region. If the Brazilian data 594,730,976 Eastern and Central Europe 284,353,409 Eastern and Central Europe
had not been reported, the number of cases 46,822,120 CIS 17,010,000 CIS
in 2003 would have been 904 and the quan- 1,271,018,294 Western Europe 1,196,867,859 Western Europe

tity nearly 2 billion cigarettes. 19

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Global overview of cigarette smuggling

In comparison with 2001, the data for 2002 Average of quantities seized
showed a generally decreasing trend, princi-
pally due to lower figures reported by the
leading regions (Western Europe, Eastern and 2002 2003
Central Europe and Asia/Pacific). In 2003,
Asia and Pacific 4,125,132 3,691,936
there has been a further decrease, at least in
Middle East 2,826,304 4,034,257
terms of the quantity seized, with that of the
North Africa 2,826,304 1,994,869
Eastern and Central European region being Western Africa 0 306,400
particularly notable. The Western European Eastern and Southern Africa 3,010,957 2,133,385
region, however, shows remarkable consisten- North America 5,440,000 4,947,529
cy both in terms of the number of cases re- Central and South America 5,613,760 1,764,163
ported and the quantity seized. Western Eastern and Central Europe 2,252,768 987,338
Europe continues to dominate the global CIS 1,064,139 3,402,000
scene, with some 37% of the number of Western Europe 2,666,705 2,596,243
Grand total 2,823,753 2,068,610
seizures and 46% of the total quantity seized.

The average of the total quantity seized in

the different regions is shown in the table.

The figures for the Middle East in 2002 are

significantly affected by one single seizure of
more than 80 million items.

Main place of seizures

6.2. Place and type of location of Foz do Iguaçu (BR) 292 on land borders. That apart, the locations
interceptions Dorohusk (PL) 35 where the largest seizures were carried out
Swiecko (PL) 32 were, not surprisingly, seaports. These were
The tables show the leading locations by Ancona (IT) 26 predominantly container ports, with the on-
number of cases and by quantities seized. Przemysl (PL) 24 ly exceptions being Ancona and Venice (IT)
Antwerp (BE) 22 where the contraband was exclusively de-
Both in terms of number and quantity, half Frankfurt/Oder (DE) 17
tected on lorries that arrive by ferry from
Valencia (ES) 14
of the total global seizures were made in Greece.
Gauteng (ZA) 12
these locations. Although most of the loca-
Lok Ma Chau (HK) 11
tions are situated in the European region, Quantity seized
Calais (FR) 11
the fact that they collectively cover three dif- Colombo (LK) 11
ferent continents underlines the global na- Beitbridge (ZA) 10 Foz do Iguaçu (BR) 414,949,860
ture of cigarette smuggling. Vienna (AT) 10 Antwerp (BE) 110,533,580
Coquelles (FR) 10 Valencia (ES) 103,146,200
A total of twenty-seven locations entered the Teresina (BR) 10 Ancona (IT) 74,328,920
fifteen highest numbers of seizures record- Barcelona (ES) 9 Bremerhaven (DE) 69,410,000
Bremerhaven (DE) 9 Barcelona (ES) 66,198,960
ed. Twelve are land borders, eight are sea-
Vitoria da Conquista – Bahia (BR) 9 Dandong (CN) 64,728,000
p o r t s a n d f o u r a re i n l a n d l o c a t i o n s . Vienna (AT) 53,513,840
Dublin (IE) 8
Dorohusk in Poland is a railway station and Vaalimaa (FI) 7 Vancouver (CA) 46,674,020
Colombo in Sri Lanka is varyingly reported Venice (IT) 6 Vitoria da Conquista – Bahia (BR) 46,220,800
as a seaport and an airport. Pomellen (DE) 6 Gauteng (ZA) 42,000,000
Gubinek (PL) 6 Lok Ma Chau (HK) 39,446,920
By quantity the majority (nine cases) are Le Perthus (FR) 6 Hamburg (DE) 34,035,980
seaport locations, four are inland locations Gravelines (FR) 6 Santo Angelo – RS (BR) 33,273,980
and the remaining two, including the lead- Vancouver (CA) 6 Gioia Tauro (IT) 32,705,800
Total 625 Grand total 1,231,166,860
ing location of Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, are
20
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Global overview of cigarette smuggling

Departure
Destination
Transit

6.3. Country of departure and country arettes). The relative figures for 2002 were countries emerging by number of cases re-
of destination: main routing 122 cases and 313 million cigarettes. ported, the breakdown is the following:
South America (1), Africa (2), Middle East
The information regarding the country of In terms of the number of cases, the selected (1), Asia (1), Eastern and Central
departure and country of destination is ob- countries account for 67% of the worldwide Europe/CIS (7) and Western Europe (4). In
tained from the section of the CEN database figures in 2002 and for 73% in 2003. If the respect of the quantity seized, the number of
relating to the routing of detected illicit con- quantity is considered, the figures are 53% countries representing the different regions
signments. In some records, this informa- and nearly 74% respectively. The map re- is: South America (1), Africa (none), Middle
tion is not available, while in others it is flects these data. These countries represent East (1), Asia (5), Eastern and Central
incorrectly entered and does not correspond varying regions of origin. Considering the Europe/CIS (5) and Western Europe (2).
to the real country of departure and destina- From the Asian region, for example, only
tion of the cigarettes seized. one country (China) thus features in terms of
The 15 most reported countries in 2003
No. of cases the number of cases, but there are another
Since this information is quite often unavail- four countries involved if the quantities
able, the country of seizure could be report- Country 2002 2003 seized are considered. Paraguay stands out
ed alternatively as the country of departure Paraguay 1 294 both in terms of the number of cases and the
or destination, depending on whether the Ukraine 49 144 quantity and was reported in the South
consignment is an export or import. For this Poland 138 131 American region solely by Brazil and
reason, the brands seized are also analysed, China 79 98 Uruguay, which were the countries of seizure
as they are likely to give an indication of the Russian Fed. 111 50 and intended destination. Zimbabwe was the
country or area of destination. Greece 73 46 main source country for the East and
Spain 18 24 Southern Africa region. All the cases were re-
More detail on this point is included in the Germany 14 19 ported from South Africa, which was also the
following regional analysis. Belgium 13 18 country of destination.
Zimbabwe 10 17
The tables show the fifteen most reported Hungary 71 16 The Western European countries appearing
countries in 2003 in terms of the number of UAE 15 13 in the CEN database as countries of origin of
Netherlands 11 13
cases and the quantity that have originated contraband should really be considered more
Turkey 9 13
there and include comparative figures for the as countries of transit or secondary distribu-
Lithuania 34 12
previous year. In 2003, the origin is recorded tion. This is because, frequently, cigarettes
Total 646 908
as “unknown” in 159 cases (293 million cig- had previously been illegally imported from
21
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Global overview of cigarette smuggling

The 15 most reported countries in 2003

Quantity seized

Country 2002 2003

China 552,572,680 634,153,600

elsewhere, and this point is not shown in
CEN. The fact that many detections were
made at inland locations, particularly in
Germany, points toward this assumption.
Nevertheless, it is not possible to rule out a
certain number of cigarettes originating from
the area of Belgium and Germany, especially if
the phenomenon of illegal production is con-
sidered3. Of the 56 seizures in which Spain,
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands were
reported as departure countries, 44 seizures
were carried out in France, the main final
destination being the UK.
In general, all the countries belonging to the
Eastern and Central European region, in-
cluding Russian Federation and the CIS,
were shown less often as countries of depar-
ture in 2003, and also the amount of contra-
band originating in that region was subject
to a more or less dramatic decrease. The on-
ly exception was Ukraine, where the number
of cases nearly tripled, although the related
quantity showed an increase of only 15%. It
is of note that the consignments seized in
this region were destined mainly for the
same region. This contrasts with 2002, when
the main final destination was the UK. It
should, however, be taken into account that
the brand was not stated for 24% of the con-
traband originating in Ukraine.
A similar trend may be noted for Poland,
where the majority of seizures state Germany
as final destination in 2003. This contrasts
with 2002, when the UK was stated.
There were considerably fewer seized con-
signments shown as originating in the
Russian Federation, which was represented
by a smaller number of cigarettes destined
for Germany and other European countries,
while the consignments destined for the UK
remained quite stable. 82% of the seizures
where Greece is stated as the departure
country were made in Italy, a neighbouring
country. It is unlikely that Greece was the
true country of origin of the contraband.4
The largest number of smuggled cigarettes
originated in the Asian region and from
22
Paraguay
Greece 245,530,360
Poland 133,135,267
Ukraine
UAE
Russian Fed. 125,845,936
Dem. Rep. of Korea
Egypt
Singapore
Spain
Germany
Hong Kong, China
Latvia
Vietnam
Total 1,449,877,299
China in particular. Many countries in all
continents were targeted: Canada and the
USA, Israel and Lebanon, South Africa,
Algeria, Hong Kong (China) and India,
Australia and fourteen European countries.5
Insofar as Hong Kong, China is the destina-
tion of the contraband from China, it is very
important to highlight the fact that all the
consignments were seized in Hong Kong,
China. The only one destined for the USA
was also seized there. Unfortunately, the
brands seized were not recorded, making it
impossible to assess where the cigarettes
were finally destined. This additional infor-
mation is crucial, as Hong Kong, China is al-
so listed among the significant source
countries. Shipments originating in Hong
Kong, China reached Australia, Canada,
Western European countries and even
China. Singapore was the source country for
consignments destined for Malaysia,
Indonesia and Spain.
In April 2003, a huge number of illicit ciga-
rettes of the Riadi brand were detected in
Italy. The consignment originated in Egypt
and was en route to Libya. This was not the
first time in which Libya was believed to be
the target of contraband, as there had been a
previous occasion in April 2002. It is, how-
ever, the first time in which it was positively
confirmed as the final destination of the
contraband.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
appears among the first fifteen countries in
terms of quantity in 2003 as a result of a
large consignment (64.7 million cigarettes)
388,200 415,849,860
152,363,120
100,418,516
65,167,540 75,772,145
92,359,200 74,470,200
70,426,085
3,000,000 64,728,000
75,834,480 62,290,959
32,560,000 55,259,400
25,338,200 42,349,140
14,023,676 39,894,220
26,519,200 35,514,800
43,436,960 35,193,140
14,165,600 30,634,200
1,889,317,385
detected in China, for which the brand was
not reported.
A large shipment of more than 18 million
Regal cigarettes was seized in Singapore en
route to Germany. This seizure is responsible
for the remarkable increase in the amount of
contraband originating in Vietnam, although
consignments have previously been detected
in some European countries (Belgium,
Bulgaria, France and Spain), the final desti-
nation being mainly the UK.
Cyprus was reported as the departure coun-
try only once in 2003, in a shipment of
Raquel cigarettes detected in Belgium. This
contrasts with 2002, where it was the depar-
ture country in the case of ten seizures and
the total amount of contraband, detected in
and destined for Lebanon, was relatively
high (more than 114 million units).
Consignments for which the UAE are
recorded as the source country were mainly
destined for Europe (UK), Lebanon and the
neighbouring countries and, to a lesser ex-
tent, Asia (LK). The execution of Operation
Hydra, conducted in Europe in November
20036, provided confirmation of large con-
signments originating mainly in China and
increasingly from the UAE. In relation to the
UAE, there is a seizure carried out in
Bulgaria in July 2003 of note. Four contain-
ers originating in the UAE were intercepted
at the port of Bourgas, with some 13 million
Superkings and 6 million Winston cigarettes
being seized. The fraudsters attempted to re-
export the four containers from the port of
Bourgas back to the UAE.
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Review of cigarette smuggling under 100,000 pieces

7. Review of cigarette smuggling

under 100,000 pieces
The annexes report the complete data
regarding seizures under the limit of
100,000 cigarettes in terms of region and
country of seizure. The table below gives
a general overview for each region.

WCO RILO region Quantity No. of cases Average Quantity No. of cases Average
2002 2002 2002 2003 2003 2003
Asia/Pacific 289,473 11 26,315 1,156,400 21 55,066
Middle East 16,277 2 8,138 41 1 41
North America 0 0 0 357,800 6 59,633
Central and South America 151,135 7 21,590 1,091,560 24 45,481
North Africa 410,180 64 6,409 237,420 4 59,355
Eastern and Southern Africa 1,246,540 38 32,803 312,380 16 19,523
CIS 25,203,561 461 54,671 0 0 0
Eastern and Central Europe 9,359,813 400 23,399 26,464,480 976 27,115
Western Europe 1,472,155 73 20,166 1,269,237 73 17,386
Grand total 38,149,134 1,056 36,126 30,889,318 1,121 27,555

Seizures under the limit of 100,000 ciga-
rettes were principally reported by the two
regions of CIS and Eastern Europe in 2002.
In 2003, there is no data available from the
CIS, and Eastern Europe stands out both in
terms of the number of seizures (87%) and
the quantity (85%) reported. Within that re-
gion, Poland and the Czech Republic en-
tered almost all of the cases reported in both
2002 and 2003.
However, whereas Poland reported 50% of
the total cases in the region in 2002, its con-
tribution rose to 74% in 2003. Of the quan-
tity reported in 2003, 87% relates to
seizures made in Poland.
Throughout Poland, the majority of seizures
(77% in terms of number and 75% in terms
of quantity) carried out were made at border
locations. Gronowo and Bezledy, located on
the Russian border, were also important land
frontier points, the number of detections and
quantity seized rising considerably in com-
parison with the previous year. Rail ship-
ment was the means of transport in 12% in
terms of number and 15% in terms of the
quantity seized in the year. These figures
represent six-fold and eight-fold increases
over the figures for 2002 respectively. The
origin of the illicit consignments was mainly
Russia and Ukraine while the main destina-
tion was the same country of seizure.

Within Poland, 30% of the seizures were
made at the frontier with Ukraine, mainly in
the area of Przemysl, which was reported
both as a land frontier and a rail location.
The illicit importation into Poland of more
than 8 million cigarettes, 34% of the total
quantity reported in 2003, were detected at
Przemysl. This represented nearly an eight-
fold increase over seizures carried out there
in 2002, accounting for half the seizures
carried out in rail shipments.
In the case of 46 Polish seizures, accounting
for 1.5 million cigarettes (Marlboro, West
and Pall Mall), the consignments were des-
tined for Germany and mainly arrived in
Poland from Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia.
The cigarettes were mainly transported on
board road vehicles (75% of all cases and
73% of the total quantity), which involved a
car/passenger van in the majority of cases.
The cigarettes were usually concealed in the
23
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 24
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Review of cigarette smuggling under 100,000 pieces
structure of the vehicles (almost 85% of all
cases and of the total quantity).
The most seized brands were, in descending
order of quantity: Pall Mall, Prima, LM,
Saint George, West and Marlboro. Marlboro
was the most frequently detected. Of the
less frequently reported brands, some were
reported for the first time in 2003: Brillant,
North Star, City and Three Kings, which
were normally detected in conjunction with
other main brands, in particular Saint
George and Monte Carlo.
In the Czech Republic, 60% of seizures were
made at land frontier locations, although the
quantities seized were evenly split between
these and inland locations (1.5 million
units). The reports showed that inland
seizures rose five-fold in comparison with
2002, the related quantity almost six-fold.
The most common means of transport was a
road vehicle, usually a car/passenger van,
with the contraband concealed in its struc-
ture. The illicit consignments departed
mainly from Poland and were destined for
the Czech Republic itself. The most detected
brands both in terms of the number of cases
24
and quantity were, in descending order: LM,
Pall Mall and Marlboro.
A special report provided by the Czech
Customs shows that the attempt at smug-
gling is invariably taken on an individual’s
initiative, mainly by Polish and Ukrainian
nationals, who transport the unlabelled ciga-
rettes in specially made secret places of con-
cealment in private cars, trucks and trains.
The traffic features a high frequency of trips
and a relatively low number of cigarettes –
around 15,000 on average – per trip. More
than 50% of offenders are unemployed.
When goods are transported by rail, they are
concealed in wiring sections, ceiling cavities
and within the chassis, or inside the stuffing
of passenger seats. For smuggling in cars, the
place of concealment involves manufacturer-
designed cavities, inside adapted fuel tanks
or in the spare wheel. Vehicles are normally
more than ten years old.
In Western Europe, information on seizures
of fewer than 100,000 cigarettes was report-
ed from Andorra, Iceland and Denmark.
Andorra and Iceland did not report any
seizures above the de minimum limit, either

Customs officers at Aabenraa seaport in
Denmark seized over three million
counterfeit cigarettes of the brands Prince
and HB on a trailer from Klaipeda in
Lithuania. The contraband was concealed
inside fairground attractions.
(photo courtesy of Danish Customs)
in 2002 or 2003. In the case of Andorra, this
is due to the fact that the Customs are re-
sponsible only for administrative cases in
which the value of the goods is not greater
than 6,010 euros, while the police are com-
petent in more serious cases, designated
‘criminal’.
Seizures of under the 100,000 level were al-
so reported in the Asia/Pacific region, where
the number of cases doubled and the quan-
tity seized rose four-fold. This was thanks in
particular to the contributions on the part of
Sri Lanka, Brunei and Singapore.
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 25
8. Regional overviews of
cigarette smuggling
8.1. North America
Information on cigarette seizures has been
provided to CEN by Canada. A total of
twelve significant seizures accounting for
approximately 60 million cigarettes have
been reported since 2002. In 2002, only one
seizure of more than 100,000 units was re-
ported in Canada, involving 5.4 million
Marlboro cigarettes detected in Vancouver
inside a consignment of plastic hangers ar-
riving by marine container from China.
However, 11 seizures of more than 100,000
units were made in 2003, accounting for
more than 54 million cigarettes.
In 2003, the most significant seizures in-
volved counterfeit cigarettes and occurred
between June and November. Seven seizures
were carried out in Vancouver, where a total
of 51,174,020 million cigarettes were
seized, the majority involving counterfeit
products. Counterfeit Du Maurier, Players
and Rothmans brand cigarettes were detect-
ed. All the seizures involved marine contain-
ers originating in China. A cover load of
toilet paper was used in two cases. In two
other cases, the cigarettes were concealed
among markers and pens and among toys.
Although two shipments were declared as
porcelain ware and one as picture frames,
no cover load was used.
Also in 2003, 2.8 million Superking brand
cigarettes were seized in Halifax from a ship-
ment of synthetic sofas and armchairs arriv-
ing by marine container from Hong Kong,
China. Although the shipment was destined
for Vancouver, it was re-manifested for ex-
port to the United Kingdom.
Three further seizures were then carried out
in 2003 at the US frontier port of Cornwall,
Ontario. A total of 480,000 unmarked ciga-
rettes suspected of being manufactured on a
US native reserve were detected on board
personal motor vehicles. A tarpaulin or bed
sheet concealed the cigarettes in two cases.
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling
8.2. Central and South America transport contraband were also found. A fi-
nal significant seizure was carried out at the
Three Members of the South American RILO land frontier with Bolivia, where 2.4 million
region entered a total of 347 cases on the cigarettes of the Derby, Coast and Marble
CEN database within the period considered. brands were discovered among 20 tonnes of
The figures for 2003 are affected by a huge soy.
increase in cases reported by Brazil. This
greatly complicates any comparisons be- In Uruguay, the number of cases reported
tween 2003 and 2002 within the region. remained rather stable, but the quantity
seized decreased from nearly 9 million to
Chile also indicated an interesting increasing 1.5 million cigarettes. It should be said that
trend in reported seizures, from only one in one single seizure in 2002 accounted for 8.6
2002 to eight in 2003, the total quantity ris- million cigarettes.
ing eight-fold. The only seizure reported in
2002 was carried out at an inland location. Of the 294 seizures reported by Brazil, it is
The origin of the consignment and the brand interesting to note that none was recorded at
seized were unfortunately not reported, but seaports, while the more significant of the
it is of note that the cigarettes were concealed two reported in 2002 was made at the port of
inside a cover load of electronic appliances. Santos. Here a container of unknown origin
Two consignments of 9.1 million cigarettes
of various brands said to be bounded for
Venezuela were detected in March and May
2003. The Venezuelan consignee did not ex-
ist. The brands seized were Business Club,
Golden Brown, Taba, Vigor, Dorchester,
Feast and Marshall. Two other consignments
from Panama, containing almost 9 million
cigarettes, were seized at the seaport of San
Antonio in September. The brands involved
were Fox, Optiva and Backard.
Tw o c o n t a i n e r i z e d s h i p m e n t s f r o m
Argentina were detected in June and
December. In the first case, the goods were
shipped in Argentina as cigarettes (7.6 mil-
lion of Melbour and Mill) but were declared
in Chile as mugs, while 8.3 million
Dorchester cigarettes were concealed under
a cover load declared as ‘bazaar articles’ in
the second case. Both consignments were
declared as being bound for Tacna, a
Peruvian free zone, but were established to
be destined for Santiago (CL).
As a result of analysing cargo manifests
Chilean Customs inspected 2 containers
in which 5.5 million cigarettes of different
A total of 9.5 million Vigor, Dorchester,
brands had been smuggled from
Europe, Prestige and Business Club brands Panama.
were detected in December at a farm, where
(photo courtesy of Customs of Chile)
two tank trucks purposely modified to
25
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling
was detected on its way to Buenos Aires
(AR) leading to the seizure of 13.8 million
counterfeit cigarettes of two brands: Astor
from Venezuela and Souza Cruz from Brazil.
88% of all seizures reported in 2003 from
Brazil were made at Foz do Iguaçu, on the
frontier with Paraguay. They accounted for
74% of the total contraband detected. The
most important origin of the smuggled ciga-
rettes was Paraguay. 6% and 8% of the total
cigarettes respectively were detected at two
inland locations, Vitoria da Conquista-Bahia
and Santo Angelo-RS.
In 95% of the smuggling cases a vehicle was
used. A bus was recorded as the means of
transport sixteen times, accounting for 16%
of the total quantity smuggled onboard ve-
hicles. There was insufficient recorded in-
formation on mode of transport and mode
of concealment to permit further analysis,
and no indication of the brands seized.
8.3. North Africa
Number of seizures and
quantities seized
In the North Africa region, two countries
recorded details of cigarette seizures on
CEN in 2002 and/or 2003: Algeria entered
data in both years; Morocco reported one

The French Customs Investigation Service carried out in Metz a seizure of 2 million
smuggled LM, Sovereign and Superkings brand cigarettes hidden in metal beams arriving
from Poland.
(photo courtesy of French Customs)
26
Page 26
seizure of 128,000 cigarettes in 2002 and
none in 2003.
The number of seizures input by Algeria fell
from 47 in 2002 to 26 in 2003, a decrease of
45%. The quantity seized also decreased
dramatically by 61%, with nearly 52 million
being reported in 2003 compared to 135
million in 2002.
The global contribution of the North African
region was particularly remarkable in 2002
compared with 2001. Even considering the
above-mentioned decrease, the seizures re-
ported in 2003 still reveal an interesting
trend in tobacco smuggling activities.
Place and type of location
of interceptions
In 2003, as in 2002, most seizures were car-
ried out at border crossing locations. In
2003, however, there was a decrease in the
number of seizures and quantity, particularly
at inland locations where only three seizures
were recorded as opposed to thirteen in the
previous year. The quantity seized at these
locations fell from 33.6 million cigarettes to
1.5 million. Only one seizure was reported
as being made at a seaport location (Alger
port) in 2003, against three in 2002, but for
the first time the reported departure country
was China. In this case 8.5 million Marlboro
cigarettes were detected under a consign-
ment of ventilators.
Month of seizure
In 2003 38% by number and 54% of the to-
tal quantity were seized in the month of
March. The last reported seizure in the year
is dated July.
Country of departure and country
of destination
The most commonly reported departure
countries for illicit consignments are sub-
stantially the same as in 2002: Mali (11 cas-
es) and Niger (13 cases). 50% of the total
seizures and of the quantity detected orig-
ined from the latter. Illicit imports from
Morocco were recorded only once, for
800,000 cigarettes, in 2003 whereas in
2002 there were seven seizures of more than
8 million cigarettes.
In 2002, two consignments of nearly 28
million Marlboro cigarettes showed United
Arab Emirates as the departure country and
Algeria as the destination. In 2003 no con-
signments from that country were reported.
Brands
American Legend, Gauloises and Marlboro
were the brands seized. In 2002 they were
the same but one detection of Rym was also
reported. All these brands are also popular
in Algeria. In 2003 the most seized brand
was Gauloises (37% of the total quantity)
followed by American Legend (36%).
Mode of transport
The most reported type of location of
seizure, as mentioned above, obviously dic-
tates the most frequently used mode of
transport. Thus in 2003 it was a vehicle, ac-
counting for 80.5% of the quantity seized
and 88% of the total reported cases. Of the
23 cases in which a vehicle was used, a lorry
and a car were each recorded eleven times,
although most of the quantity (68%) was
found concealed in the latter type of vehicle.
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 27
Method of concealment
Details on concealment methods were un-
fortunately not given. The data reported
does show, however, that 4-wheel drive
Toyota vehicles were most frequently used
with an average detection of 2.5 million cig-
arettes. This strongly suggests that the ciga-
rettes were loaded without any attempt at
concealment.
8.4. Western Africa
Information concerning two seizures has
been provided to the CEN database from
this region.
In March and October 2003 Customs in
Mali seized a total of 612,800 cigarettes of
the Dunhill, Karelia and Gold Seal brands.
The contraband was found abandoned in
the neighbourhood of Bamako.
8.5. Central Africa
The following is totally based on the report
provided by RILO Central Africa located in
Douala, Cameroon.
Cigarette smuggling has been a major con-
cern for Customs administrations within the
Central African sub-region. About 70-85%
of cigarettes imported into the sub-region
are said to be smuggled. This may be due to
the high duty rates applied to cigarettes and
tobacco. The main methods used by fraud-
sters are import without declaration (i.e.
smuggling) and undervaluation. In the latter
case they declare a lower value bringing the
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling
duty below 2 million francs CFA (approx
3,050 Euro), thus avoiding pre-shipment
inspection, or mix cigarettes in a container
with other articles which attract very low
Customs duty. In this case both invoices and
bill of lading are changed reducing the
quantity of cigarettes in the container and
increasing the quantity of other articles with
lower duty rates.
In respect of import without declaration, the
following cases were reported7:
a. A significant seizure recorded in 2003 re-
sulted from the check of two containers at
Douala port loaded with Winston brand
cigarettes. Both the manifest and bill of
lading were amended to show tomato
paste intended for transit to Malabe in
Equatorial Guinea.
b. Another major seizure was made by
Cameroon Customs when one consign-
ment of three containers was checked.
One container was declared to contain
cigarettes while the other two were de-
clared to contain plastic containers, which
normally attract lower Customs duty.
Marlboro brand cigarettes were seized.
As a general trend cigarettes are legitimately
imported through the free port of Lome on
the West African coast. The consignments
are then put into smaller boats for distribu-
tion through the creeks8 into countries such
as Nigeria, Gabon, Congo and Cameroon.
Various brands are seized: Marlboro,
Wellington, Karelia and American Legend.
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

The use of fake paper rolls to conceal
cigarettes inside is still common. This
seizure of 2.2 million of Sovereign
cigarettes was carried out in Italy in 2004.
The contraband was detected onboard a
lorry coming from Ukraine through
Slovenia
(photo courtesy of Guardia di Finanza)
8.6. Eastern and Southern Africa
Number of seizures and
quantities seized
In 2002 one seizure in Kenya of 290,000
cigarettes was reported. Apart from this, on-
ly South Africa in the region provided infor-
mation to the CEN database over the two
years considered. The number of seizures al-
most doubled from 2002 to 2003 whilst the
total quantity seized increased by 22%.
Place and type of location
of interceptions
Half the seizures, corresponding to 82% of
the total quantity seized, were made in the
Gauteng area. Gauteng appears to be the
most lucrative market for the disposal of
smuggled cigarettes 9. Durban and Cape
Town were the common ports of entry used
on importation. As a result of the increased
enforcement effort at these two ports the
fraudsters altered their import route to
Walvis Bay in Namibia and thereafter the
cigarettes were smuggled through the
Nakop and Vioolsdrift border post to the
Gauteng region10.
27
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 28
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling
Month of seizure
The last reported seizure is dated October
2003. This single seizure of almost 12 mil-
lion cigarettes was the largest recorded. In
July 2003 five seizures were made and 38%
of the total quantity was seized whilst in the
same month in 2002 no seizure was made.
In 2002 the majority of seizures and quanti-
ty were recorded in December.
Country of departure and country
of destination
Contraband cigarettes are smuggled pre-
dominantly from Zimbabwe. Seventeen cas-
es totalling 28.4 million cigarettes were
reported in 2003, whilst in 2002 the equiv-
alent figures were ten seizures and 3.1 mil-
lion cigarettes. Because of the political
instability and weak Zimbabwean dollar,
cigarettes are available at a relatively cheap
price compared to the same brands in South
Africa.11 Two cases were reported in 2003
with the origin of China, compared to three
in 2002. The related quantities decreased
from 38.7 million to 14.7 million cigarettes.
Two single seizures of 4.7 and 3.3 million
cigarettes from Lesotho and Namibia re-
spectively were also reported.
Brands
The table shows the breakdown of the dif-
ferent brands seized in South Africa over the
two past years although only 55% of the
records corresponding to 74% of the total
quantity contained information on the
brand seized.
Brands seized in South Africa
2002
BRAND No. of cases
Chesterfield
Marlboro 1 19,580,000
Peter Stuyvesant 2 19,130,000
Remington Gold
Rothmans
Sportsman 1 290,000
Unknown 10
Grand Total 14
28
Mode of transport
The mode of transport was not reported in
seven cases, which however represented
61% of the total quantity seized. From the
annual report kindly provided by South
African Revenue Service, it can be said that
fuel tankers were used twice.
Method of concealment
The majority (60%) of the cigarettes seized
in 2003 was detected on premises, whilst in
the previous year it was amongst or within
the legitimate consignment covering the
contraband. In 2003 small quantities of cig-
arettes were generally carried across the
Limpopo river which forms the border be-
tween Zimbabwe and South Africa. These
were then collated at a depot and transport-
ed in larger loads to the Gauteng area.12
Cover loads
When a cover load was used (twice in
2003), this was bags of paprika and diesel
oil. Both consignments were detected in
road freight.
2003
Quantity No. of cases Quantity
1 990,000
5 17,019,800
6 14,840,000
1 4,700,000
3,153,400 11 13,651,440
42,153,400 24 51,201,240
8.7. Middle East
Number of seizures and quantities seized
Over the past two years only Israel and
Lebanon in the Middle East region provided
information on cigarette seizures. In 2001
Saudi Arabia also contributed with two
seizures accounting for nearly 74 million
cigarettes.
The number of seizures input by Israel
dropped from 26 in 2002 to 7 in 2003, a de-
crease of 73%. The quantity seized also de-
creased dramatically from about 182 million
in 2002 to 25 million in 2003, a drop of
86%. The 2003 figures from Israel are in-
complete in that additional data relating to
fifteen seizures totalling 45 million ciga-
rettes was submitted after the global analysis
was carried out. Taking into account the
seizures not yet entered onto CEN, the total
seizures would be:
Year No. of cases Quantity
2002 26 182,092,500
2003 22 70,499,140
It can be seen that, even the fully inclusive
statistics for 2003 show a dramatic decrease
from the previous year.
In Lebanon the situation was similar with a
decrease in reported seizures from twelve
to six and the related quantity from about
113 million to 27, a drop of 76%. The
Lebanese figures are however affected by a
single seizure of more than 80 million ciga-
rettes in 2002.
Place and type of location
of interceptions
Despite the reduced seizures and quantity,
the significant type of location was the same
in 2003 as in 2002: seaport in Israel and
high sea in Lebanon. Of particular note is
that in Israel two seizures were made at Tel
Aviv airport - one consignment from Russia
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 29
of 865,140 cigarettes of different, unspeci-
fied brands, and one of 3,960,000 Dunhill
from the Netherlands.
Month of seizure
The last seizure reported in the CEN data-
base by Israel is dated August 2003. The
most prolific month was July when three
seizures (43% of the Israeli total) compris-
ing 64% of the total quantity were made.
Lebanon reported all its seizures and the last
one is dated June 2003. Half of all seizures
were made in May when 65% of the total
quantity was seized. This regional picture
contrasts strongly with 2002 where, in both
countries, cigarette seizures were made
every month with the exception of July in
Israel and May and June in Lebanon.
Country of departure and country
of destination
Of the consignments destined for Israel,
43% by number and 64% by quantity
seized, originated in China. Other specified
countries of departure were Greece, the
Netherlands, Russia and Turkey. Of the six
shipments detected in Lebanon, two origi-
nated in China, which did not appear in
2002 as departure country. They correspond
to 32% of the total quantity seized. For the
remaining four cases the departure country
was unfortunately not given. In 2002
Cyprus featured most prominently, both in
terms of number of cases and quantity.
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Rolled up goods used as cover loads are
favoured by smugglers. In this case Irish
Brands Customs seized a total of 3.1 million
Of the seven cases reported in the CEN by Superkings, Lambert & Butler and Palace
Israel, two relate to seizures of Marlboro hidden inside 60 fake rolled up carpets.
brand and one each to Dunhill and LM. In (photo courtesy of Irish Customs)
three cases, corresponding to 48% of the to-
tal quantity, the brand was not given. The
additional data made available by Israel
show that the most commonly seized ciga-
It is of note that in Israel two cases, detailed
rettes in 2003 were Marlboro. above, concerned cigarettes smuggled by air.
This is also true for Lebanon, where 50% of
the seizures and 41% of the total quantity
Method of concealment
Unfortunately details on the method of con-
seized were Marlboro. Other brands seized
cealment were not specified. In Israel one
were Dorchester, Gauloises and Lucky
case was in air freight and one in sea freight;
Strike. Brands such as United, Viceroy,
in Lebanon two cases referred to a sea
Gitanes and Captain were not detected in
freight concealment.
2003 they appear to have been replaced by
an increase in Marlboro. It is not possible to
Cover loads
accurately measure the increase, since
The sea freight shipments originated from
Marlboro was seized mixed with various
China and the cover load used was glassware
other brands such as Kent, Viceroy, United
in two cases and sport shoes in the remain-
and Raquel totalling 11.4 million. The pre-
ing one. For the air freight consignment the
viously mentioned exceptional Lebanon
cover load was not specified.
seizure in 2002 was of a total of more than
80 million cigarettes of different brands
(Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Viceroy, Kent,
Brooks, Valentin, Cooper and Winchester).
Mode of transport
For the majority, the illicit consignments
were imported into the two countries on
board vessels. In Israel these were mainly
container ships and in Lebanon they were fi-
shing vessels.
29
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 30

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

8.8. Asia & Pacific Quantity seized by Members on 2002. Even if the significant seizure de-
in the Asia/Pacific region tailed above were excluded, seaport loca-
Number of seizures and quantities seized tions stand out by quantity seized. In 2003
Asia/Pacific is the region accounting for the 2002 2003 however there was a decrease in seizures at
largest cigarette production, principally inland locations, where the quantity seized
Australia 40,486,800 31,931,053
through the contribution of China. It is also dropped from 126 to 48 million cigarettes.
Bangladesh 379,400 1,000,000
the main originating region for illicit ciga- China 59,590,000 76,960,900
rette and tobacco smuggling. Therefore the Fiji 160,000 Only one seizure of cigarettes from a free
reported information on cigarette seizures in Hong Kong, China 151,366,840 83,097,950 trade zone was reported in 2003. On 28
the CEN database from the Asia/Pacific re- India 3,810,000 October 2003, Singapore detected a vessel
gion over the past two years remains highly Indonesia 10,750,000 from Vietnam transiting to Germany with a
significant. Mongolia 150,000 200,000 total of 18.4 million pieces of counterfeit
Malaysia 13,712,900 11,340,000 Regal cigarettes.
Over the past two years twelve Asia/Pacific Singapore 28,700,000 18,400,000
Sri Lanka 4,473,800 9,869,800 Month of seizure
members reported a total of 141 cases corre-
Thailand 6,240,000
sponding to 552.6 million seized cigarettes. In 2003 (with one exception) the monthly
In 2003 67 cases were reported from the re- detected quantities before October were less
gion, seven cases less than in 2002, and ac- Place and type of location than their corresponding month in 2002.
counting for 5.4% of global seizures. of interceptions The exception to this was June 2003 where
However the quantity of seizures input by Compared with 2002, an increased quantity the seizure quantity was double that of June
the Asia/Pacific region in 2003 is 247 mil- of illicit cigarettes was seized at seaports in 2002. However since October 2003 the
lion cigarettes (9.7% of the global total) 2003 and this remains the most prevalent lo- quantities seized per month were larger than
which is 58 million less than in 2002. The cation for cigarette smuggling, accounting for their corresponding 2002 months.
2003 figures are affected by a single seizure 52% of the total seizures – an 18% increase
of 64.7 million cigarettes of the 555 and
Hilton brands made in China at the port of
Dandong in June. Quantity Seizure by month in A/P Region

Within the Asia/Pacific region Hong Kong

China, Sri Lanka, China and Australia are
the main seizure-reporting Members with a 2002 2003
80,000,000
combined total in 2003 of 60 cases and 202
million cigarettes13. This equates to 90% of 70,000,000
the total quantity of both cases and cigarettes
seized in the year. Among them, it is worth 60,000,000
noting that China and Sri Lanka contributed
77 million and 9.8 million seized cigarettes 50,000,000

respectively – increases of 29% and 121% on

40,000,000
the previous year’s seizures, while other
M e m b e r s re p o r t e d s m a l l e r a m o u n t s . 30,000,000
Particularly remarkable is the drop recorded
in Hong Kong where the number of seizures 20,000,000
decreased 21% and the quantity seized re-
duced by almost half. It is also worthwhile to 10,000,000

highlight the contribution of Indonesia and

0
India, both of whom recorded no seizures in
January

February

March

April

June

July

August

September

October

November

December
May

2002, but 2003 seizures returned to the lev-

els reported in 2001.

30
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 31
Country of departure and country
of destination
The most reported departure countries for
illicit consignments in 2003 were almost all
different from those of 2002: China (24 cas-
es and 34% of the total quantity seized) was
still the most commonly mentioned depar-
ture country, with transits mainly to Hong
Kong, China and Australia. The Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea, Singapore and
Hong Kong, China accounted for 26%, 8%
and 5.4% respectively. Significant departure
countries in 2002 were the Republic of
Korea, the Philippines, India and Malaysia,
none of which featured in 2003.
As in 2002, Hong Kong China, China,
Australia and Malaysia were the main desti-
nation countries, corresponding to 33%,
31%, 13% and 4.6% respectively in terms of
number of cases. It must be pointed out that
as a destination country for illicit cigarette
traffic China showed a sharp increase from
19% in 2002 to 31% in 2003. Set against
this Hong Kong, China has seen a relative
decrease from 47% in 2002 to 33% in 2003.
Australia and Malaysia remained at essen-
tially the same level in both years.
Brands
As in 2002, Marlboro and 555 remain the
major brands seized. The largest single
change from the 2002 results is that Zhong
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling
Hua and Winston were not seized in signifi-
cant quantities in 2003. Benson & Hedges is
still one of the most detected brands. Because
of the large interception in Singapore, Regal
accounted for 7.4% of the total quantity
seized in 2003. It was of note that 555 and
Gudang Garam increased steeply from 24
million and 19,000 respectively in 2002 to
67 and 11 million pieces in 2003.
Mode of transport
As mentioned above, compared with 2002,
more seizures took place at sea ports in
2003. Largely this reflects the fact that the
current most commonly used mode of
transport was by vessel. The previously
common use of fishing vessels to smuggle
cigarettes was not reported in 2003. The use
of vehicles accounted for the same percent-
age as the use of vessel in 2003: 36% of the
total cases.
Method of concealment
The three main methods of concealment
were in road freight, sea freight and in
premises. In 2003, concealments in road
freight were mainly recorded. It must be
however underlined that in five seizures car-
ried out at seaports, accounting 68 million
units, the method of concealment was not
specified. The mentioned quantity compris-
es the large amount of cigarettes seized in
one single case, affecting the figures.
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Rolls of wire sheets were used by
smugglers stopped at Hong Kong, China
Customs at Lockmachau control point.
850,000 cigarettes of the brand Viceroy
and Marlboro were discovered inside a
consignment in a container from China.
(photo courtesy of Hong Kong Customs, China)
Cover loads
2003 seizure data shows that nine cases,
amounting to 30 million illicit cigarettes,
had food such as potatoes, flour, chilli, gar-
lic, etc as cover loads. Additionally in the
same year Hong Kong Customs intercepted
three consignments totalling 11 million cig-
arettes in road freight from mainland China.
In these cases the cover loads used were fur-
niture: cane baskets, wooden sofas and mat-
tresses frames.
In 2002 the main cover loads were shoes,
cardboard, furniture and clocks. Combined
seizure data for 2002-2003 clearly show
that food and furniture are still the main
cover loads for cigarette smuggling among
the Asia/Pacific region.
31
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 32

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

No. of seizures – 2002 No. of seizures – 2003

8.9. Western Europe

Number of seizures and quantities seized

With 461 seizures, Western Europe record-
ed 37% of the seizures made worldwide.
Looking at the quantity of cigarettes seized
however this region’s contribution equals
46%. It can be seen that Western Europe
was the only region where both the number 179 Germany 147 Germany
of seizures and the total quantity seized over 79 Italy 63 Italy
the last two years remained essentially sta- 46 France 72 France

ble. This is of note because a dramatic de- 42 Belgium 31 Belgium

crease was recorded for each year since 31 Austria 26 Austria

2000. For the sake of precision, compared 25 Sweden 25 Sweden

to 2002 the figures in 2003 showed a de- 21 Netherlands 23 Netherlands

34 Spain 18 Spain
crease which was however not significant:
10 Norway 5 Norway
16 seizures and 74 million units less.
9 Ireland 18 Ireland

Although there is a general consistent trend 8 Finland 10 Finland

3 Denmark 4 Denmark
at the regional level, the situation in individ-
3 Malta 2 Malta
ual countries differs in comparison between
3 Portugal 0 Portugal
the two years.
0 Switzerland 1 Switzerland

By number of seizures reported the same

three countries are leading in both years:
Germany, France and Italy. By quantity, the Quantity – 2002 Quantity – 2003
situation is slightly different: in 2003 Italy
and Germany again head the table but in
third place Spain, which in 2002 was the
fifth country, replaces Belgium. It can also
be seen that there was a remarkable similar-
ity in the total quantity seized in 2003 by
the three countries at the head of the table.

The average quantity seized in each country

is shown in the table.

Country 2002 2003

France 2,781,845 2,201,163

Austria 941,808 3,078,866 293,570,200 Italy 218,168,440 Italy
Belgium 5,685,274 4,227,180 270,343,502 Germany 217,969,789 Germany
Switzerland 0 131,000 238,781,490 Belgium 131,042,580 Belgium
Germany 1,510,299 1,482,788 127,964,860 France 158,483,730 France
Denmark 474,333 1,728,030 116,052,060 Spain 213,028,940 Spain
Spain 6,447,337 6,265,557 58,526,716 Netherlands 62,160,140 Netherlands
Finland 1,251,375 453,860 56,211,040 Ireland 36,468,080 Ireland
Ireland 6,245,671 2,026,004 29,196,063 Austria 80,050,520 Austria

Italy 3,716,078 3,462,991 29,096,723 Portugal 0 Portugal

Malta 5,016,667 6,410,000 20,843,420 Sweden 53,327,840 Sweden

Netherlands 2,786,986 2,702,615 15,050,000 Malta 12,820,000 Malta

Norway 394,822 353,216 10,011,000 Finland 4,538,600 Finland

3,948,220 Norway 1,766,080 Norway
Portugal 9,698,908 0
1,423,000 Denmark 6,912,120 Denmark
Sweden 833,737 2,133,114
0 Switzerland 131,000 Switzerland
Average 2,664,609 2,596,243
32
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 33
The difference in the figures among the first
three countries is due to the fact that Germany
reported more than one hundred cases under 2
million units, while in the other two countries,
particularly Spain, this was the exception.
Austria recorded five seizures less in 2003
than in 2002, but the total quantity seized
nearly tripled. This was due to five large
seizures each over eight million cigarettes ac-
counting for a total of 57.8 million; it is of
note that four of these shipments transited
through Germany.
Sweden made the same number of seizures in
2002 and 2003 but the total quantity seized
more than doubled. One single notable
seizure of nearly 28 million cigarettes ac-
counts for the difference. In June 2003
Swedish Customs seized cigarettes of counter-
feit Prince, Marlboro and Superkings brands
at the port of Stugsund, a small port near
Söderhamn in the north of Sweden. This
seizure is the largest ever made in Sweden and
one of the largest made in the Western
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling
European region over the last few years. The
cigarettes were discovered during an inspec-
tion of 706 m3 of sawn redwood goods on
board a Russian registered vessel arriving from
St. Petersburg. The consignee of the sawn
wood was a Swedish joint stock company in
Söderhamn, which had instructions from the
Russian company to deliver the goods on to
different buyers on the continent. One part of
the goods was forwarded to Denmark. Danish
police found more than two million cigarettes
of the same three brands in the forwarded
consignment. In both cases the cigarettes had
been concealed inside bundles of wood.
In Ireland the number of cases doubled in
2003 but the total quantity seized dropped
from 56.2 to 36.4 million units.
Place and type of location of
interceptions
In Western Europe the greatest numbers of
seizures (26) were made at the port of
Ancona (IT), where 74 million cigarettes
were seized. Larger quantities in a lower
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Another example of fake rolled up goods
used to conceal cigarettes was detected
in Italy where 2 million Superkings and
Sovereign brand cigarettes were found
inside fake rolls of yarn.
(photo courtesy of Guardia di Finanza)
number of cases were however detected at
the ports of Antwerp (BE) and Valencia (ES)
where marine shipments are moved and
around 100 million units in each location
were seized in 22 and 14 detections respec-
tively. At the ports of Bremerhaven (DE) and
Barcelona (ES) less seizures were made in
2003 (9 in each location) but nearly the
same quantity as in Ancona were seized in
both locations.
Overall, seaport locations accounted for the
majority of cigarettes seized, with exactly
the same percentage in 2002 and 2003,
66.5% of the total quantity seized. The per-
centage seized by quantity at inland loca-
tions was also identical for both years at
25.5%, although the 181 seizures made
there were more by number than the 173 at
seaports. This equates to a decrease of 15%
by number at seaports and an increase of
8% at inland locations. These seizures were
carried out mainly in Germany (46% of the
total cases reported in the region and 27%
of the quantity seized).
More seizures were recorded in 2003 at air-
ports and rail locations. No seizures were
made at mail centres; such seizures were re-
ported in 2002 by France.
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Western Europe – Quantity seized per month Month of seizure

The charts show the comparative pattern of
seizures by number and quantity for each
2002 2003 month in 2002 and 2003.
200,000,000
180,000,000 Although in Ireland the number of seizures
160,000,000 doubled, no seizures were reported in the
140,000,000
first two months of the year. Sweden also
120,000,000
made no seizures in these two months, al-
100,000,000
80,000,000
though the number of reported cases re-
60,000,000 mained stable. No seizures were reported
40,000,000 from Belgium in August and November
20,000,000 whilst the Netherlands had nil figures in
0
September and December.
January

February

March

April

June

July

August

September

October

November

December
May

Italy and Spain did not report any seizure in

June.

Compared with 2002, the quantity seized by

month in 2003 tended to be more linear, al-
though in spring and winter higher quantities
Western Europe – No. of seizures per month
(over 100 million cigarettes) were recorded.
In 2002 the lowest monthly figure recorded
2002 2003 was 55.6 million in June. In 2003 it was in
60 May, but the quantity seized monthly never
fell below 70 million cigarettes. The most
50 successful month was December with more
than 152 million cigarettes seized.
40
Country of departure and country
30 of destination
It has been shown in previous sections that
20 Western European was the main targeted re-
gion for illicit consignments in 2003.
10 Significant information concerning the rout-
ing of contraband is contained in section 6.3
0 but additional detail is included here.
January

February

March

April

June

July

August

September

October

November

December
May

China was the main source country in many

regions, and in particular for the countries
of the Western European region. Based on
the CEN data, in 2003 nine countries in this
geographical area were targeted: Spain,
B e l g i u m , G e r m a n y, A u s t r i a , U n i t e d
Kingdom, Italy, France, the Netherlands and
Portugal. In the year, China was reported as
the departure country for consignments
destined for Western Europe in fifty cases,
that is 51% of all cases and 62% of the ciga-
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Most seized brands in Western Europe

Number of cases Quantity

BRAND 2002 2003 2002 2003
rettes seized where China was the country of
origin. In 2002 the situation was quite dif- Superkings 76 77 179,083,330 287,323,820
ferent, with the respective percentages being Sovereign 79 64 356,859,540 218,322,860
27% and 30%. Pall Mall 46 56 17,005,840 28,588,105
Regal 28 31 107,006,783 106,433,020
There was a similar disparity between the Marlboro 31 30 134,041,980 111,527,280
two years in relation to cigarettes with China West 57 28 71,417,977 13,701,580
as the country of origin actually seized in Prince 22 26 15,029,440 35,429,820
LM 18 25 8,021,600 10,170,627
Western Europe. In 2003 Western European
Benson&Hedges 28 22 138,823,280 129,623,460
countries seized 68% of all cigarettes in that
Lambert&Butler 2 10 2,304,200 7,108,280
category, compared with 51% in 2002. In Memphis 8 9 2,301,360 7,655,640
both years the UK market was the most com- Raquel 7 30,680,020
monly recorded destination, in 57% of cases Winston 12 5 79,206,400 28,474,380
in 2003 and 27% in the previous year. Chesterfield 4 12,357,380
Dorchester 6 4 42,934,320 11,658,800
Greece was reported as the country of depar- GB 2 3 1,059,700 17,788,600
ture for consignments detected in Italy and Rothmans 3 3 4,636,600 4,089,600
mainly destined for the UK. It is, however, Not specified/unknown 28 21 42,700,950 22,688,450
unlikely to be the true origin of the contra- Grand Total 446 425 1,202,433,300 1,083,621,722
band. Looking at the brands involved and at
the cases in which Greece was recorded as Raquel and Chesterfield brands were recor- 2002. The three seizures in 2003 were made
destination country, it would seem to be more ded in 2003, which in the previous year did in Spain, Germany and Italy.
two of a transit country for the illicit ciga- not appear at all. The first were these brands
rettes. detected in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy The brands detected in a smaller number of
and Spain. Most of the Chesterfield ciga- cases but accounting for a relatively large
Spanish Customs seized 7.6 million GB rettes were detected in Spain. quantity seized (more than 5 million units)
brand cigarettes in October 2003 at the port are shown in the table.
of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The ciga- The detections of the GB brand are also of
rettes were concealed amongst a consign- interest. In 2002 Portugal and Germany ma- The Riadi brand was intercepted at the port
ment of bedsheets in a container arriving de one seizure each, but in 2003 the sei- of Genoa (IT) in a container en route to
from the port of Manama (Bahrain). This zures became larger and the GB cigarettes Libya. A number of brands featured in 2002
was the first time that the Kingdom of were not mixed with other brands as in but not 2003, and vice versa.
Bahrain has featured in a route for smug-
gling cigarettes.
Other significant brands seized in Western Europe
Brands
The table shows all brands detected more Number of cases Quantity
than three times in 2003 and the respective BRAND 2002 2003 2002 2003
quantity compared with the previous year. Riadi 1 24,810,000
Gauloises 2 10,030,018
Craven-A 1 9,120,000
It can be seen that brands destined for the
Virginia Star 1 9,000,000
UK market are still dominant. However in-
Rave 1 8,743,600
creasing figures can be noted for the Pall Lucky Strike 2 2 9,919,800 8,531,140
Mall brand; this is very popular in Germany Dunhill 1 7,290,040
where all of the seizures were made. The Crown 1 6,400,000
dramatic drop of seizures of West cigarettes Boston 1 1 9,000,000 4,000,000
is also remarkable. Mayfair 3 8,384,740
Melnik 1 13,954,600
Many seizures of significant amounts of the Grand Total 7 11 41,259,140 87,924,798
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Mode of transport
As in 2002, in 2003 the most frequently
recorded mode of conveyance was a vehicle.
A drop of 7.6% in the number of the cases
in which a vehicle was used produced a
comparatively high decrease (26%) in the
quantity seized. Conversely a 10% decrease
in detections on vessel did not result in a re-
duction of the seized quantity, which actual-
ly rose by nearly 8% from 608 to 655
million cigarettes.

Mode of transport by quantity - 2003
Irish Customs detected in 2003 smuggled

The type of vehicle most frequently used
was again a lorry. In 2003 there was a dra-
matic decline in the number of cases in
which a car was used (from 57 to 34) whilst
the use of delivery vans rose from 22 to 38.
This situation reflects the trend in Germany
and Austria, which reported most of the cas-
es. The total quantity transported by these
vehicles was not significant in comparison
with that carried by lorry.
0 % Air 5% Unknown
0 % Pedestrian 38 % Vehicle It is of note that in 2003 the cases in which
2 % Rail 55 % Vessel the transport was by train increased from
two to five and the quantity seized rose sev-
en-fold from 3.8 million in 2002. Two cases
Mode of transport by No. of cases - 2003
were recorded in Germany where the de-
tected amount of the contraband was only
around 100,000 cigarettes per seizure. The
other three cases were however more signif-
icant. In particular those reported from
A u s t r i a , w h e re t w o c o n s i g n m e n t s o f
Benson&Hedges cigarettes were previously
shipped from China to Germany and then
loaded on board trains. Finland entered the
last seizure relating to 1.3 million LM ciga-
rettes from Russia. These cases demonstrate
that there is considerable potential scope for
the interception of smuggling by rail as stat-
2 % Air 9% Unknown ed in the report of last year.
0 % Pedestrian 66 % Vehicle
cigarettes of the brand Lambert & Butler
in two airfreight consignments coming
from Spain. These seizures show that
there is a considerable potential scope for
the detection of contraband by air.
(photo courtesy of Irish Customs)
the use of air transport was recorded.
Although the total seized was comparatively
small, the two cases show that also this mode
of conveyance should not be undervalued.
Method of concealment
The charts show that the majority of seized
goods were detected ‘in freight’, that is the
cigarettes were concealed within the legiti-
mate goods which are used as a cover load.
This was also the case in previous years. It
should be noted that for consignments en-
tered to this category on CEN, the cover load
itself may not have been correctly declared.
For 2002 and 2003 the charts show a com-
parative difference in respect of the propor-
tion of the total seized by quantity which
relates to ‘in freight’ concealment. The 2003
figures are substantially consistent with the
picture emerging from the analysis of mode
of transport.

1 % Rail 22 % Vessel When a vessel was the mode of transport, it Of particular note is that in May and June
was invariably a container ship. In two cases 2003 Irish Customs detected Lambert &
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

2002 - No. of seizures

In freight 271
In air freight 0
In rail freight 2
In road freight 173
In sea freight 96
2002 - Quantity seized

In freight 1,082,708,733
In air freight 0
In rail freight 3,848,280
In road freight 513,391,070
In sea freight 565,469,383

2003 - No. of seizures
Another very important detection was made

in Ireland where Customs officers examined
In freight 244 five crates delivered to a freight warehouse
In air freight 1 in Dublin for export to Portugal. No
cigarettes were detected but this kind of
In rail freight 3
cover load is worth mentioning, since it is
In road freight 155 specially constructed for fraudulent use.
In sea freight 85 Fake blocks of glass sheets like that shown
In premises 45 in the pictures, containing cigarettes inside,
In transport 152 have been detected in different countries.
(photo courtesy of Irish Customs)
2003 - Quantity seized

In freight 1,012,537,807
In air freight 175,000
In rail freight 26,055,200
In road freight 374,118,707
In sea freight 612,188,900
In premises 57,921,659
In transport 108,534,274
Butler brand cigarettes in two airfreight con-
signments from Spain. The cigarettes were
discovered in consignments said to contain
furniture at the depot of courier companies
at Dublin airport. In themselves the single
seizures do not involve large quantities of
cigarettes, but checks established that 65
previous shipments had taken place be-
tween September 2002 and May 2003. It is
estimated that 6.9 million illicit cigarettes
were in the undetected shipments. The Irish
seizures and the results of their investigation
show that there is considerable potential
scope for the detection of cigarette smug-
gling in airfreight.
There is great potential for valuable intelli-
gence from the information on CEN, but this
requires the necessary detail to be input. As
an example, it would be most useful to know
whether the cigarettes are concealed inside
(i.e. within the structure of) legitimate goods
or whether they are merely placed under the
cover load or behind one or two rows of it.
The various photographs in this Report and
its predecessors show examples of conceal-
ments detected within the structure of the
cargo and demonstrate that, generally speak-
ing, it is more difficult to detect these.
In 2003, 31 cases were reported indicating
that the cigarettes were concealed inside the
cover load. In the previous year there were
47 cases. They reflect respectively a quote of
17% and 13% of the total reported cases in
which a cover load was used. Although the
number of such detections dropped, the
percentage of the related quantity remained
stable (10.8%) over the two years, which
means that larger amounts of cigarettes are
concealed inside each cover load. It should
be said that this method of concealment was
detected predominantly in road freight.
Cover loads
A cover load was used to conceal smuggled
cigarettes in 253 interceptions (25 less than
in 2002) corresponding to a total quantity of
more than 1 billion units (nearly 10% less
than in 2002).
The tables show the list of cover load by
number of detections and by quantity in
2003, compared with the same figures of
the previous year. In the first table only the
type of cover load used more than three
times is considered; in the second, only
those featuring in seizures which total in ag-
gregate more than 5 million cigarettes are
included.
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Cover loads Cover loads The use of paper rolls decreased, although
No. of seizures Quantity seized other ‘rolled’ goods, such as yarn and car-
E pets, were used more frequently. It would
2002 2003 2002 2003 appear that this type of cover load should
Food 51 35 Food 172,269,990 95,214,355 continue to be considered high risk.
Furniture 28 18 Suitcases 66,370,000
Plastics 7 13 Plastics 27,406,660 63,034,400 A very important detection was made in
Textiles 10 12 Textiles 38,540,000 61,785,440 Ireland, where Customs officers carried out
Suitcases 11 Wood/Timber 16,365,200 61,609,325 an examination of five crates delivered to a
Electrical appliances 13 11 Electrical appliances 25,830,000 61,605,900 freight depot in Dublin, for export to
Wood/Timber 11 10 Shoes 47,923,600 47,860,740 Portugal. The examination revealed the pres-
Cardboards 8 Furniture 93,194,560 44,494,807 ence of 130,000 in one crate, while the re-
Other 7 Ceramics 14,000,000 28,438,180
maining four crates were found to be empty.
Machinery 7 Other goods 24,116,580
Shoes 9 6 Detergents 24,070,400 The crates were specially constructed for
Detergents 6 Household goods 88,887,000 23,155,000 fraudulent use in the following manner: size:
Ceramics 1 5 Machinery 20,582,400 approx. 150cm x 120cm x 200cm. Outer
Household goods 9 4 Candles 7,950,000 20,465,200 walls were made of 3cm thick wood, then
Glassware 5 4 Aluminium 18,354,880 18,036,000 3cm laminated glass and the inner lining was
Building materials 4 4 Umbrellas 16,500,000 a 0.3mm wall of lead. In July 2003 in
Aluminium 3 3 Personal effects 16,380,000 Ancona (IT) a consignment declared as
Yarn 3 Glassware 17,599,580 16,338,760 blocks of glass sheets was checked and 3.2
Paper 3 Watches 16,300,000
million cigarettes of the Sovereign and
not specified/unknown 18 27 Cardboards 15,906,340
Total 169 197 Lamps 79,149,400 15,896,600 Dorchester brands were found inside the
Wall paper 14,000,000 consignment, which was purposely modified
By number of interceptions, the picture is to carry the contraband inside. The cover
Building
similar to 2002, in that food was again the materials 16,017,820 10,689,800 load, which was in fact crates made of glass
most used type of cover load, followed by Wax 10,504,000 and wood, appears to be very similar to the
furniture. Frozen food, the use of which di- Bathroom one detected in Ireland. At least one more
minished dramatically, is not included in the accessories 10,175,000 10,172,200 seizure of cigarettes inside such a crate took
main ‘food’ category. By quantity seized in Clothing 45,659,400 9,920,000
place also in 2004 in Belgium. It can be con-
2003 the second most used type of cover Bags 47,986,200 9,630,000
cluded that consignments declared as pallets
load was suitcases. Blankets 9,000,000 9,000,000
Bed sheets 7,000,000 7,608,600 of glass are worthy of attention.
Synthetic fibre
Although furniture still features prominently, textiles 6,999,600
its use as a cover load was recorded less in Yarn 6,334,800
2003, both by number of cases and related Toys 23,750,000 6,008,000
quantity. It should nevertheless continue to Wooden products 4,378,280 5,600,000
be considered as a high-risk commodity; it is Screwdrivers 5,600,000
possible that smugglers have adapted their Metal products 6,861,560 5,592,180
methods to conceal cigarettes within the Towels 5,380,000
structure of the furniture. not specified/unknown 38,547,820 88,028,960
Grand Total 856,846,950 870,879,187
Among the category ‘electrical appliances’,
water boilers, water heaters, coffee ma-
chines and vacuum cleaners are principally Some original and unusual cover loads were
recorded. The last of these was used as the detected in 2003, for example lifts, stoves,
cover load for two large consignments de- logs, roundabouts and arms of excavators. In
tected in November in Italy in a very short all cases the cigarettes were concealed inside
period of time.14 the cover load.15
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

8.10. Eastern and Central Europe

Number of seizures and quantities seized

In Eastern and Central Europe the number
of seizures rose from 264 to 288 but the to-
tal quantity seized dropped from 594 mil-
lion to 284 million cigarettes. The large
seizures reported in 2002 from Lithuania,
Greece and Turkey certainly affected the fig-
ures. It can be surmised that the action of
the Customs administrations which disman-
tled several smuggling organizations, partic-
ularly in the Baltic States, may have
An usual detection was made in 2002 by
contributed to this decrease. The increased French Customs near the German and
seizures and quantities reported by other Luxembourg border in a container lorry.
2.5 million Regal cigarettes were
countries (Bulgaria and Slovakia) and the
concealed inside plastic buckets from
contribution of countries that did not ap- Lithuania. The first dozen of buckets in
pear in 2002 (FYROM, Slovenia and Serbia each pile were normal but the buckets
and Montenegro), were not sufficient to underneath had the bottom part cut out.
compensate for the lower figures recorded (photo courtesy of French Customs)

elsewhere in the region. It is also possible

that seizures were not reported to the CEN
database.

Bulgaria reported one exceptional seizure in Place and type of location

July 2003 when nearly 19 million of interceptions
Superking and Winston cigarettes were In Eastern and Central Europe the highest
seized at the port of Bourgas. number of seizures (38) was made in
Przemysl (PL), on the border with Ukraine,
The average of the quantity seized in the re- where 25.5 million cigarettes were seized.
gion is reported in the table. The second highest number was detected at
Dorohusk (PL), another location near the
Country 2002 2003 Ukrainian border, but the quantity seized and Budzisko (PL). The same trend was reg-
there was not so significant (8 million) if istered at the port of Piraeus (GR) and in
Bulgaria 2,635,920 5,053,800 compared with the third location that was Salociai (LT), although several exceptional
Czech Rep. 2,161,653 827,676 again in Poland. In Swiecko 32 seizures seizures were reported at these locations in
Estonia 3,881,384 2,013,333 were made and the highest total amount in 2002. There was a similar situation at Prague
Greece 11,179,000 4,844,560 the region was seized (26.5 million). (CZ), although one more seizure was report-
Hungary 885,702 509,194 ed in 2003 than in 2002. It is noteworthy
Lithuania 7,045,193 2,802,516 It is interesting to note that Przemysl and that in this case the exceptional seizures af-
Latvia 2,018,640 0 fecting the figures in 2002 were related to
Dorohusk reported only seven and three
FYROM 0 2,293,000 seizures respectively in 2002 and that the two illicit consignments originating in China
Poland 1,668,633 668,761 number of detections in Swiecko doubled in and transiting through Germany.
Slovenia 0 2,875,000 2003, with a significant increase in the
Slovakia 1,055,933 876,558 number of cigarettes seized. The number of inland seizures increased
Turkey 5,974,361 2,486,022 from 66 to 98 but the total quantity seized
Ukraine 601,333 642,502 Remarkable drops, both in terms of number at these locations decreased from 109 to 75
Serbia & Montenegro 0 399,600 of seizures and quantity, were recorded in million units. The bulk of interceptions
Average 2,252,769 987,338 particular in Kukuryki (PL), Budapest (HU) were made at border locations although they
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Rail traffic should be considered high-

risk for cigarette smuggling like this
reported a decrease of 17% in the number of more in the second half of the year. seizure carried out in Italy in 2002. 3.5
seizures and a dramatic drop of 56% in the It is interesting to note that in Turkey, from million Superkings cigarettes were
concealed inside fake polyethylene films
quantity seized. Even more dramatically, where all seizures made were reported, in-
rolled on cement pipes. The
seaports in the region reported a 44% de- terceptions of illicit cigarettes took place on- consignment arrived from Ukraine and
crease in the number of interceptions and a ly in the first half of the year. furthermore the pipes were made of a
63% fall in the quantity seized. A positive mixture of asbestos. A similar seizure
was also carried out in Spain.
trend was recorded at rail locations, where Country of departure and country
(photo courtesy of Guardia di Finanza)
the number of seizures rose from 10 to 45 of destination
cases, although the quantities seized re- Some notable routing aspects for the Eastern
mained essentially at the 2002 level. and Central European region were included
in section 6.3 above. Additional points of
Month of seizure interest are included here.
that year. In 20% of the total seizures in the
The graphs show the general trend by num-
region in 2002, or 23.7% by quantity, one of
ber of seizures and by quantity in the re- Only five countries in the Eastern and
these countries was the intended recipient.
gion, compared with 2002. Central European region were the intended
The seizures made in the Eastern and Central
recipients for cigarettes originating from
European region in which China was the
Of the countries which reported the majori- China in 2003: Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania,
country of departure, as a proportion of those
ty of seizures only the Czech Republic and Hungary and Poland. Collectively they were
made globally, constituted 6.3% by number
Hungary did not make any seizure in all the destination country for 7% of the total
and 7.1% by quantity in 2002, but fell to
months, with no results in August and number of cases in which China appears as
3.0% and 3.3% respectively in 2003. In 2003
November for the former and in March, country of origin, and 8.4% of the quantity.
two seizures were made in Turkey and one in
October and December for the latter. This picture differs from 2002 when destina-
Greece and mainly brands for the UK market
tion countries for illicit cigarettes from China
were detected.
In Poland the seizures were made during all also included the Czech Republic, Serbia and
months of 2003 but the total interceptions Montenegro, Ukraine, Slovakia and Greece;
No seizure data for the review period was
and cigarettes seized were concentrated Turkey and Romania reported no seizures in
entered by Romania, although it was one of
MONTH 2002 2003 MONTH 2002 2003 the five most recorded countries of depar-
ture in the region. In 2002 this was the case
January 18 22 January 77,124,400 16,010,740 in two records but in 2003 in eleven
February 35 14 February 40,357,500 14,467,380 records, with a corresponding increase in
March 22 12 March 72,345,320 19,487,060 seized quantities from 8.6 to 20 million cig-
April 27 24 April 75,180,990 15,951,480
arettes. It should be noted that in 2002 one
May 18 17 May 40,651,360 15,785,220
June 28,126,140 48,940,690 single shipment originating from Romania,
June 21 33
July 26 31 July 81,478,780 30,071,614 detected at the port of Piraeus (GR), ac-
August 22 23 August 29,131,780 30,452,055 counted for 8.5 million cigarettes. In 2003
September 16 38 September 50,771,020 29,670,650 seven of the eleven consignments were de-
October 20 31 October 36,967,746 26,274,400 tected in Hungary en route to various
November 30 26 November 43,833,800 31,008,980 Western European countries; from the
December 9 17 December 18,762,140 6,233,140 brands seized it would seem that the main
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

Some concealments are very hard to

uncover. In this case Irish Customs found
4.2 million Sovereign brand cigarettes It is of particular note that within the overall Of note was the number of seizures of con-
inside wood burning stoves from Poland decrease in the total quantity of cigarettes signments detected on trains, which rose in
via Antwerp, Belgium. The use of stoves
seized in the region in 2003 there was a 2003 to 49 from 14 in the previous year, al-
as cover load was also detected in
Bulgaria where 13 million Superkings huge decrease in seizures and related quan- beit there was a corresponding decrease in the
and 6 million Winston cigarettes arriving tities of brands destined for the UK market. quantity seized from 31 million to 28 million
from UAE were seized. The bulk of intercepted cigarettes involved cigarettes. The seizures took place almost ex-
(photo courtesy of Irish Customs) brands destined for the internal regional clusively in Poland.
market or for Germany. More than 10 mil-
lion Winston cigarettes were detected in two 2003 - No. of seizures
separate consignments, with 5.9 million be-
Pedestrian 2
intended recipient was Austria. The remain- ing seized in Bulgaria and 4.3 million in
Rail 49
ing four illicit consignments were, in fact, Greece. A smaller amount of 210,000
Unknown 45
seized in Austria although, paradoxically, Winston cigarettes was also seized in Turkey, Vehicle 181
the brands indicated the cigarettes were des- where the brand was mixed with a larger Vessel 11
tined for the UK. quantity of Superkings and Marlboro.
2003 - Quantity seized
Brands Mode of transport
Pedestrian 375,400
The table shows brands intercepted more The most frequently used mode of transport
Rail 28,534,500
than five times in 2003 and the respective was a vehicle, and within that category most Unknown 31,872,939
quantity compared with the previous year. detections were made from lorries. As was the Vehicle 152,663,170
Other brands which were detected only fea- case in 2002, the majority of the quantity Vessel 70,907,400
tured on one or two occasions. seized was also transported by lorry.
Method of concealment
More frequently brands seized in Eastern and Central Europe Detections of cigarettes concealed in the
structure of the means of transport were
No. of cases Quantity (pcs.)
BRAND 2002 2003 2002 2003
Pall Mall 22 55 14,036,810 32,354,180 2003 - No. of seizures
Prima 25 30 8,944,080 19,380,660
Saint George 2 24 363,600 21,943,200 In baggage 4
LM 7 19 12,951,616 11,487,674 In freight 87
Priluki 10 18 2,824,200 4,759,480 In premises 35
In transport 159
Superkings 53 18 113,407,100 64,069,300
Unknown 3
Marlboro 16 16 66,635,600 13,330,800
Memphis 13 13 3,816,400 6,198,360 2003 - Quantity seized
West 18 13 21,856,000 14,915,360
Sovereign 17 11 130,956,000 18,550,100 In baggage 860,780
Boss 6 0 832,200 In freight 174,414,720
Prince 3 5 18,843,960 4,474,360 In premises 22,417,110
Not specified/unknown 10 34 21,332,640 27,615,875 In transport 86,173,439
Grand Total 196 262 415,968,006 239,911,549 Unknown 487,360
41
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

higher in 2003 than in 2002. On the other more than one million cigarettes are taken er load for the previously mentioned 19 mil-
hand concealments within the legitimate into account. lion cigarettes detected in Bulgaria; the ciga-
l o a d w e r e d e t e c t e d l e s s f r e q u e n t l y. rettes were concealed within the ovens. It is
Nevertheless the bulk of the goods seized In the overview of the situation in the worthwhile to underline that this seizure,
were concealed ‘in freight’, i.e. inside or Western European region reference was involving brands destined for the UK mar-
amongst a cover load: 51% in road freight made to the significant decrease in detec- ket, shows similarities with others reported
and 40% in sea freight consignments. tions involving furniture as a cover load. in Western Europe. In June 2003 more than
This was not mirrored in Eastern and 4 million Sovereign cigarettes were found
Cover loads Central Europe, where the number of detec- inside stoves, as was the case in a seizure
In Eastern and Central Europe a cover load tions was almost the same as in the neigh- made in Sweden in December 2002, where
was used to conceal the contraband in 87 bouring region, confirming this type of 1.1 million cigarettes of the same brand
cases (22 less than in 2002) corresponding cover load as high risk good for cigarette were detected. In both cases the consign-
to a total quantity of more than 174 million smuggling. The same is true for wood/tim- ments originated in Poland.
cigarettes. This is considerably less than in ber, with consignments of timber in which
2002 when seizures of cigarettes concealed hollows have been made to conceal ciga-
by a cover load were around 375 million. rettes continuing to be detected in Europe. 8.11. Commonwealth of
Independent States
The tables show cover loads by number of Of specific interest was the category ‘electri-
detections and by quantity in 2003, com- cal appliances’ which was used to smuggle In the CIS region only Belarus input data on
pared with the same figures of the previous higher quantities of illicit cigarettes into the the CEN database in both 2002 and 2003.
year. In the first table only the type of cover Eastern and Central European region. In Data from the Russian Federation were in-
load used more than twice is considered this category ovens were the preferred cluded in 2002. For 2003 data were not
while in the second the seizures totalling choice of smugglers, with this being the cov- available in time for inclusion in this report.
Nevertheless RILO CIS has provided a help-
ful report ”Review on Activities of the RILO
Cover load Cover load Moscow Participant Countries Customs
No. of seizures Quantity seized
Bodies in Preventing Tobacco Products
2002 2003 2002 2003 Smuggling in 2003”. As this analysis is
based on information relating to significant
Furniture 18 15 Electrical appliances 2,305,000 28,818,720 seizures entered into the CEN data base, on-
Food 3 10 Food 2,710,000 16,671,400 ly an extract of the RILO review will be re-
Electrical appliances 2 8 Wood/Timber 36,665,660 13,969,120 ported in the current section in order to
Wood/Timber 10 7 Building materials 12,637,936 12,424,840
provide Customs administrations, to whom
Building materials 5 5 Furniture 31,418,000 12,198,600
Plastics 1,702,600 11,639,600 the present Report is mainly addressed, a
Textiles 2 5
Glassware 4 2 Glassware 5,994,280 9,292,400 more inclusive overview and subsequently
Household goods 2 2 Household goods 8,626,200 9,070,000 added value.
Machinery 2 2 Chemical products 2,965,600 7,700,000
Metal products 3 2 Bags 2,074,000 7,236,200 Belarus entered information relating to five
Paper 2 2 Textiles 26,750,000 4,670,600 seizures made in 2003 with more than 17
Plastics 1 2 Clothing 0 4,291,200 million cigarettes being seized. This repre-
Clothing 0 2 Paper 2,872,000 3,755,200 sented a significant decrease in the number
Not specified/unknown 2 4 Ceramics 16,347,800 3,533,200
of cases from the seventeen recorded in
Other 0 4 Machinery 3,585,500 3,077,780
Lamps 728,000 2,249,200 2002. The total quantity seized in 2003 also
Total 56 72
Cellulose 0 1,640,800 showed a decrease at 17 million, but not to
Toilet paper 0 1,220,000 the same dramatic extent. It is of note that in
Shoes 16,982,400 1,038,800 each year a single seizure of more than 10
Other 0 2,346,160 million cigarettes transported by rail has
Not specified/unknown 2,073,000 11,376,400 been made. In 2002 West brand cigarettes
Total 176,437,976 168,220,220 destined for Russia were seized, whilst in
42
Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32 Page 43
2003 Sobranie cigarettes destined for
Kazakhstan were detected.
The information provided by the RILO CIS
report provides useful information on the
Belarus seizures. The Republic of Belarus is
located at the crossing point of main trans-
European highways, and is thus of special
interest to international criminal groups.
There is much intelligence that the territory
of the Republic is used actively as a smug-
gling transit channel. The illicit traffic has a
direct impact not only on the interests of the
Republic of Belarus, but a number of
European countries as well. 16 This is evi-
denced by the routing of detected illicit to-
bacco products. Around 70% of all tobacco
products seized in Belarus in 2003 were in
the process of being exported illegally on
the north-western and western borders to
the Baltic States and Poland with the inten-
tion of onward shipment to Wester n
Europe. In most cases criminals were trying
to illegally export varying quantities con-
cealed in the structure of vehicles, some-
times specially adapted. Other cases
involved shipment by international mail
parcel and the use of special structural fea-
tures of railway vans and locomotives.
Analysis of the seizures shows that major
routes run through the territory of Belarus,
firstly Ukraine-Belarus-Poland and Baltic
States and secondly Russian Fed.-Belarus-
Poland and Baltic States.
In 2003 Customs in the Russian Federation
seized around 22 million cigarettes, valued
at 367,000 US Dollars. The majority of in-
terventions were carried out in the North-
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Regional overviews of cigarette smuggling

During a search of a private warehouse
in Monaghan, Irish Customs seized 3.2
million cigarettes of different brands that
Western region. To address this, a special were found concealed inside the
operation ‘Excise’ was conducted in 2003, computer.
leading to further seizures. One of the (photo courtesy of Irish Customs)
largest was made following the examination
of a shipment destined for a Spanish con-
signee, with 14.6 million Marlboro, Regal, positive results, including the identification
Superkings and Sovereign cigarettes being of cigarette smuggling routes from the
seized. In the southern direction tobacco Russian Fed. to the countries of Northern
products are exported mainly in the area of and Western Europe. In particular there
Osetia. In 2003 practically all tobacco prod- were detections of cigarettes in concealments
ucts were exported from Russia by physical made in raw timber routed from the Russian
persons across Northern Osetia to Georgia, Fed., through Finland to Western Europe.
Armenia, Moldavia, as well as to countries Cases of tobacco products smuggling were
such as Israel, Jordan, United Arab Emirates also detected at the Armenia-Georgia border,
and Mongolia. where in May 2003 nearly 3 million ciga-
rettes of a Russian brand were seized.
The most recent foreign trade in tobacco
products suggests that the production ca-
pacity of the tobacco industry in the Russian
Fed. developed to such an extent that the
home market became saturated, necessitat-
ing an increase in exports. In general, 2003
saw a drop in recorded crimes related to the
smuggling of tobacco products in the
Russian Fed. Whereas in previous years
there were large detections, mainly in the
southern region by so called "false transit"
(where the goods went through the territory
of the Russian Fed. declared for Azerbaijan
or Georgia, but in fact were illicitly diverted
within the territory of the Russian Fed.), in
2003 cigarettes were smuggled mainly by
individuals who carried relatively small
quantities from the territory of the Russian
Federation.
During 2003 joint measures were taken
against illicit tobacco products trafficking, in-
cluding counterfeit cigarettes. These yielded
43
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Smuggling and trade in counterfeit cigarettes - Illicit production

9. Smuggling and trade in counterfeit cigarettes -

Illicit production
On the CEN database, counterfeit 9.1. Smuggling of counterfeit Counterfeit brands – Quantity
cigarettes cases can be recorded cigarettes
Superkings 69,216,800
in two categories: Du Maurier et Player’s 40,885,020
For 2003 the CEN database contains 40
 smuggling of cigarettes Benson&Hedges 35,396,600
records relating to smuggled cigarettes which
(tobacco commodity); Regal 18,400,000
were subsequently found to be counterfeit. Sovereign 16,393,400
 trade of counterfeit cigarettes These records represent 3.2% of all reported Prince 15,212,020
(IPR commodity). seizures over 100,000 units. The total quanti- Marlboro 11,187,800
ty of these cigarettes was nearly 250 million, Rothmans 9,300,000
The first of these relates to the typi- which is equal to 9.7% of the total quantity Peter Stuyvesant 9,059,800
seized globally in 2003. As observed in previ- Lucky Strike 6,999,800
cal instance of non-declaration of Winston 5,936,000
ous ‘Customs and Tobacco’ reports, the
tobacco products, which could al- recorded figures do not appear to be in line Gold Leaf 5,584,000
so be counterfeit. There is a specif- Optiva and others 3,490,000
with the real situation. From a statistical
Pall Mall and West 1,504,146
ic entry field on the CEN database viewpoint it is nevertheless worthwhile to
to record this kind of information. compare the percentages emerging in 2003
prominently, and other brands such as
The second categor y relates to with the data related to the previous year.
Superkings, Regal, Sovereign and Prince were
cases in which the cigarettes are increasingly detected.
In 2002 3.5% of reported cases related to
d e c l a re d a s a t o b a c c o p ro d u c t , smuggling of counterfeit products, which
There were no recorded detections of coun-
that, upon inspection, are shown to terfeit Superkings in 2002. The table shows
amounted to 197 million units correspon-
be counterfeit. the percentage of the counterfeit brands de-
ding to 7.2% of the total contraband seized.
tected in 2003
The following table shows the number of cas-
es and quantities positively shown to be
The DuMaurier and Player’s brands were de-
counterfeit, broken down by region and year.
tected in Canada in seven seizures and the
Optiva brand in Chile in one single seizure
Of the total smuggled cigarettes that were al-
mixed with Mastro, Record and Premier
so counterfeit, the principal brands detected
Counterfeit cigarettes brands. The remaining brands were reported
were Marlboro and Benson&Hedges. In
No. of seizures and quantity seized as shown in the regional table above. In 2002
2003 the same brands again featured most
and 2003 the main reporting countries were
Region 2002 2003 Grand Total Germany (8 cases), Poland (4) and South
Africa (3). Single seizures of large quantities
Asia and Pacific 1 3 4 were reported from Singapore, Austria and
736,000 25,984,000 26,720,000 Sweden. It is worth noting that Turkey re-
Eastern and Central Europe 11 6 17 ported nine cases in 2002 and none in 2003.
68,711,180 23,615,400 92,326,580
Middle East 2 1 3
It has been reported that the Asia/Pacific re-
9,000,000 6,999,800 15,999,800
North Africa 2 2 gion, especially China, has an immense ca-
1,769,600 1,769,600 pacity to produce counterfeit cigarettes,
North America 1 7 8 making it a major source country for world-
5,440,000 51,174,020 56,614,020 wide fakes. Although the Chinese authorities
Eastern and Southern Africa 2 3 5 shut down a large number of illegal cigarette
29,180,000 9,059,800 38,239,800 factories in the past years, there are no indi-
Western Europe 13 19 32
cations of a significant reduction in the
63,654,340 129,231,366 192,885,706
Central and South America 2 1 3 counterfeit trade.17 The CEN database con-
18,847,600 3,490,000 22,337,600 firms this. In fact in 2003 China was the
Total No. of cases 34 40 74 recorded country of departure in 24 cases
Total quantity seized (pcs) 197,338,720 249,554,386 446,893,106 (60% of the total reported) and the amount
44
 Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:32
s-

Illicit production of cigarettes was
discovered in various European countries
in 2003. In the pictures an illegal factory
was dismantled in Germany where West
brand cigarettes were produced. The
logo stamp for the brand Regal was
detected in Belgium.
(photo courtesy of German and Belgian Customs)
Page 45
Smuggling and trade in counterfeit cigarettes - Illicit production
of the cigarettes seized accounted for 65% of
the total. It is worth mentioning that in 2002
the respective percentages were much lower,
at 17% and 28%.
Russian Fed. and United Arab Emirates
were also reported in 2003 as the departure
c o u n t r y, f o r s e i z u re s i n S w e d e n a n d
Bulgaria respectively. The amount of coun-
terfeit cigarettes recorded by those two
countries was around 25 million and 20
million respectively.
The country of destination given for the
counterfeit cigarettes was mainly the same as
the country of seizure. In Europe, however,
the brands seized would suggest that the
shipments were intended for the UK market.
9.2. Illicit production of cigarettes
There is no doubt that the major source of
supply for undeclared counterfeit cigarettes
is the Asia/Pacific region. Nevertheless the
illicit production of cigarettes discovered in
other regions should not be undervalued.
There has been one documented case of
counterfeit cigarettes being manufactured in
Gauteng (South Africa) in 2002. A company
registered a legal factory with Customs but
also operated two illicit factories where they
manufactured counterfeit Peter Stuyvesant
cigarettes and other brands intended for the
African market.
Illicit production of cigarettes was also dis-
covered in various European countries in
2003. Such cases were reported in particular
by the Czech Republic in the Eastern and
Central European region and by Belgium
and Germany in the Western European re-
gion. In the Czech Republic in November
2003 Customs finalized a long-term opera-
tion called “Marsal” and uncovered a sophis-
ticated, organized 12-member group
operating from private premises located in
the northern part of the country close to the
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
border with Germany. The group was carry-
ing out packaging and completion of the fi-
nal product (boxes and cigarette packets).
The production was conducted using basic
manual labour with the assistance of me-
chanical equipment. The cigarettes them-
selves were produced elsewhere and moved
from unknown locations to these manufac-
turing plants. Considering the quality of the
product, it is highly likely that these ciga-
rettes were produced by mechanical equip-
ment. Also seized during the operations was
cellophane and aluminium foil packaging
material which had previously been trans-
ported by air from Vietnam. Further, large
numbers of cardboard boxes bearing names
of world-wide known cigarette brands were
seized. These were being stored ready to un-
dergo the final processing phase, which in-
volves packing already filled cigarette
packets into the boxes.
In Western Europe the dismantling of an il-
legal factory was first reported by Belgium,
where in the period January-March 2003 a
plant was operational 6 days a week for the
production of Regal cigarettes. In those
three months almost 47 million cigarettes
were produced. When the illicit operation
began, daily production amounted to ap-
proximately 600,000 cigarettes a day.
Production then increased to approximately
85 mastercases, or some 1.7 million ciga-
rettes a day. The maximum production
speed of the seized machinery in the clan-
destine plant was 2,500 cigarettes per
minute or 15 mastercases (150,000 ciga-
rettes) per hour. It has been calculated that
theoretically, at the maximum production
capacity every day, the factory could pro-
duce some 538 million counterfeit cigarettes
in a year.
In July 2003 Customs investigation units in
Germany conducted an operation against a
criminal group comprising Polish, Russian
and German Nationals and for the first time
a complete production line was detected.
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Smuggling and trade in counterfeit cigarettes - Illicit production

The illegal factory, located in Western
Germany, was able to produce up to 1,500
finished cartons per hour. At 30 euros per
carton this represents a duty evasion of
45,000 euros per hour. During the operation,
counterfeit West cigarettes, packaging materi-
al and 20 tonnes of tobacco were seized.
Finally, in Denmark police detected machin-
ery for the illegal production of cigarettes in
August 2003. It is not known in which
country the machinery was to be used.
9.3. Trade in counterfeit cigarettes
In respect of the second category of data
recorded in the CEN database, a number of
seizures of counterfeit cigarettes have been
input as an IPR commodity. This means that
the products were declared to Customs as
cigarettes which, upon inspection, were
found to be counterfeit products infringing
IPR legislation.
According to the CEN database, nearly 154
million counterfeit cigarettes were seized
within the two past years. The table shows
the breakdown of the reported seizures by
country and year.
cases doubled in 2003 although the total
quantity reduced by 24%. It should be not-
ed that in 2002 a single seizure of Viceroy
brand, reported by Italy, accounted for 88%
of the total quantity seized in the year. That
consignment originated in Cyprus and was
seized at the port of Gioia Tauro in transit
for Turkey.
The most frequently detected brands in
2003 were Marlboro and Lucky Strike, in
two cases each. 8.5 million Davidoff were al-
so detected in one single seizure made in
Italy. The seizure reported from Peru refers
to a small consignment of Hamilton brand
cigarettes destined for Bolivia from Turkey.
The origin of the other consignments seized
in 2003 varied between China, Egypt,
Malaysia, South Korea and Benin. From the
latter nearly 28 million Marlboro cigarettes
reached the port of Algeciras (ES) where
they were seized.
Additionally, Customs in Bulgaria provided
information on three seizures of cigarette
consignments made in March, October and
December 2003. As a result of the examina-
tion of the cigarettes declared it was proved
that the products were counterfeit. Marlboro
was the most detected brand.
cigarettes is a rapidly growing global prob-
lem. These reported IPR seizures indicate
that, rather than opting to conceal the coun-
terfeit cigarettes, which would signpost their
illicit nature if detected, criminals frequently
prefer to declare them as cigarettes on the
premise that they are less likely to attract of-
ficial attention and will not be detected as
counterfeit. This could explain why the
seizure data in CEN may not totally reflect
the counterfeit cigarette smuggling picture.
The available data and information does
strongly suggest that focusing attention on
combating the illicit trafficking of counter-
feit cigarettes will require sustained long-
term commitment. Confirmation of this is
provided by the data published by the US
Customs and Border Protection, showing
that both in 2002 and 2003 the IPR com-
modity most frequently seized was ciga-
rettes, mainly originating from China.18

It can be seen that the number of detected Beyond any doubt the trade in counterfeit

Counterfeit cigarettes – No. of seizures and quantity seized

Country 2002 2003 Grand Total

Spain 1 1
28,228,000 28,228,000
Israel 1 1
8,130,000 8,130,000
Italy 1 4 5
77,600,000 37,480,720 115,080,720
New Zealand 1 1
1,993,600 1,993,600
Peru 1 1
475,000 475,000
Total No. of cases 3 6 9
Total quantity 87,723,600 66,183,720 153,907,320
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Review of smuggling of smoking (hand-rolling) tobacco

10.Review of smuggling of smoking

(hand-rolling) tobacco
Thirty two seizures of smoking (hand- No. of seizures Quantity
rolling) tobacco19 totalling 132,738 kg Region Country 2002 2003 2002 2003
were reported in 2003. Compared to Asia/ Pacific Australia 3 2 11,293 11,095
the previous year this constituted a de- CIS Russian Federation 4 143,042
crease of 15% in the number of cases Eastern Central Europe Czech Rep. 1 2 37 31,426
Lithuania 1 1,242
and 40% in terms of quantity seized. Poland 2 2,039
The recorded decrease of the total Slovakia 1 10,000
quantity can be explained by the fact Ukraine 2 41,200
Total Eastern Central Europe 7 2 54,518 31,426
that in 2003 no seizures were reported Middle East Israel 2 7,650
from the CIS region which in 2002 con- Lebanon 2 2,004
tributed 65% of the total smoking to- Total Middle East 4 9,654
North Africa Morocco 1 14
bacco detected. North America Canada 4 732
Western Europe Germany 4 52,236
Denmark 11 3 75 132
France 5 8 4,742 8,022
Ireland 3 3 6,739 2,546
Italy 1 895
Netherlands 3 1 686 16,000
Norway 1 1,575
Total Western Europe 23 20 13,817 59,831
Grand Total 38 32 222,684 132,738

Some regions showed an increasing trend
in the seizures of smoking tobacco in
2003. Single significant seizures were
reported in particular by Germany, the
Netherlands and Australia, where smoking
tobacco from Vietnam was detected.
(photo courtesy of Australian Customs)
The table shows the breakdown of the data
by region and relevant country.
Varying trends can be identified in the most
representative regions. In the Middle East
region both Israel and Lebanon made con-
siderable seizures which constitutes an
emerging trend, as no seizures were report-
ed in 2002. In Eastern and Central Europe
only the Czech Republic reported seizures
of smoking tobacco and these were signifi-
cant, particularly if compared with the pre-
vious year. The 2002 figures for this region
were strongly influenced by a single seizure
of 37 tonnes made in Ukraine.
In Western Europe a slight drop in the num-
ber of seizures is recorded. There was how-
ever an enormous increase of the total
quantity seized, which rose nearly four-fold.
This was mainly due to the exceptional
seizures made particularly in Germany and
in the Netherlands. 20 In Rotterdam 16
tonnes from Vietnam destined for Slovakia
were detected. It is of note that in 2002
Slovakia reported a single seizure of 10
tonnes and none in 2003. Germany report-
ed three significant seizures totalling 52
tonnes, two of which also departed from
Vietnam and were destined for the Czech
Republic.21
This pattern for 2003 is wholly consistent
with that emerging from the analysis of the
illicit production of cigarettes detailed in the
previous chapter. A clear trend is identifi-
able from Western Europe seizures of a new
route from Asia to Europe; this was not evi-
dent in 2002 when Western Europe seizures
tended to originate from other European
countries and none were recorded as origi-
nating in Vietnam.

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

The WCO, CEN Team and the RILO Network

11. The WCO, CEN Team and the RILO Network

To ensure the implementation of the WCO Global Information and Intelligence 11.1. Role of the Secretariat
Strategy and consistency of the Global RILO Network, the RILOs operate according
to common guidelines specifying the role of the WCO Secretariat, the RILOs and The WCO Secretariat, as the responsible fo-
cal co-ordination point for the RILO net-
National Contact Points (NCPs). Further information can be obtained in the WCO
work, monitors the consistency of RILO
document EC0134E2. activities with the “Recommendation of the
Customs Co-operation Council on the
Operation of the Global Network of
Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices
(RILOs)” as adopted by the Council and
these guidelines. The Secretariat shall:

1. Ensure the central management of the

Customs Enforcement Network (CEN)
by using, operating and maintaining the
system as the global Information and
Intelligence tool for the RILO network.
2. Ensure that the CEN is further im-
proved taking into account new devel-
opments and requirements.
3. Use, administer and monitor the infor-
mation being kept within the CEN on a
global level.
4. Carry out periodical global strategic and
tactical analyses based on the informa-

The originality and inventiveness of
smugglers can be seen in these pictures tion in the CEN.
showing a rail freight consignment. 5. Keep RILOs informed about projects,
1,368,800 LM cigarettes were concealed measures and developments relevant for
inside logs detected by Finnish Customs
their region.
in Kouvola. The consignment originated
in the Russian Federation. 6. Organize a global RILO meeting on a
(photo courtesy of Finnish Customs)
regular basis.
7. Outsource special tasks to RILOs in or-
der to receive their assistance in carrying
out matters of priority identified by the
Secretariat or WCO bodies.
8. Task RILOs to represent the Secretariat,
where appropriate.
9. Provide training and technical assistance
to the RILOs and their Members within
the limits of financial and human re-
sources.
10 Co-operate with other international law
enforcement agencies on a strategic level.

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

The WCO, CEN Team and the RILO Network

11.2. Tasks of the RILOs
The RILOs, as the responsible regional focal
point for the RILO network, monitor the
consistency of their Members activities with-
in the rules of the WCO Global Information
a n d I n t e l l i g e n c e S t r a t e g y, t h i s R I L O
Recommendation and these guidelines.
By using information provided to them,
they should:
1. A r r a n g e f o r t h e n o m i n a t i o n s o f 14. Promote and maintain regional co-oper-
National Contact Points (NCPs) within ation with other law enforcement agen-
their region. cies and organizations, in accordance
2. Organize and send invitations to annual with any rules or provisions being estab-
NCP meetings. lished by the Enforcement Committee or
3. Provide technical and other assistance to the Council.
NCPs. 15. Assist Customs administrations with
4. Check that regional seizure information their analyses in specific cases, and facil-
is being entered into the CEN on a regu- itate the exchange of case-related opera-
lar and timely basis. tional information in accordance with
5. Validate regional seizure information be- relevant legal provisions and in agree-
ing entered into the CEN. ment with the responsible national or re-
6. Produce regional tactical analyses to gional authorities.
support Customs law enforcement au-
thorities.
7. Collect, evaluate and disseminate infor-
mation on Customs offences through the
CEN.
8. Produce a periodic intelligence bulletin
containing :
• Seizures of global and regional
relevance;
• Regional trend analyses;
• Regional analytical reports.
9. Provide the Secretariat with an annual
report on their activities.
10. Produce and disseminate intelligence
alerts and intelligence profiles.
11. Design and implement target-oriented
intelligence analysis projects.
12. Design and support regional intelli-
gence-led operations.
13. Facilitate mutual administrative as-
sistance.

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

The WCO, CEN Team and the RILO Network

11.3. Tasks of the National Contact

Point (NCP)

In order to secure the information exchange at

a regional level and the quality of the informa-
tion captured within CEN, the NCPs should:

1. Collect seizure data, including all re-

quired details relating to Customs of-
fences, from all possible sources at
national level.
2. Enter seizure data electronically into the
CEN, or submit the data to the RILO by
fax or mail.
3. Obtain photographs of significant
seizures or of new/interesting conceal-
ment methods for incorporation into
the CEN concealment database and for
the production of alerts.
4. Analyse national seizure information to
identify new or unusual smuggling
methods, consistent patterns, smuggling
trends and other information of interest, St. Lucia

and enter results into the CEN or for-

ward this information to the RILO.
5. Obtain national alerts and forward them
to the RILO for regional dissemination.
6. Distribute at national level intelligence
reports, alerts and other relevant publi-
cations received from the WCO and
RILOs.
7. Initiate and participate in special region-
al projects conducted by RILOs to iden- Chile
tify new transborder smuggling threats
and trends.
8. Promote and maintain national co-oper-
ation with other law enforcement agen-
cies or organizations.
9. Task the RILO with specific analytical WCO CEN Team Belgium
RILO Eastern and Central Europe Poland
studies and participate in the process of
RILO Western Europe Germany
evaluating effectiveness. RILO CIS countries Russian Federation
RILO Asia and the Pacific China
RILO South America Chile
RILO North Africa Morocco
RILO West Africa Senegal
RILO Central Africa Cameroon
RILO East and Southern Africa Kenya
RILO Middle East Saudi Arabia
CCLEC Caribbean St. Lucia

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

The WCO, CEN Team and the RILO Network

Russian Federation

Germany

Poland
Belgium

China

Morocco
Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Cameroon
Kenya

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

WCO RILO Network

WCO RILO Network

WCO CEN TEAM – BRUSSELS CIS – RUSSIAN FEDERATION JOINT INTELLIGENCE OFFICE (JIO)
tel: 32 2 209 9211 (switchboard) - ext. 312 CENTRAL ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT OF CARIBBEAN
fax: 32 2 209 94 95 THE STATE CUSTOMS COMMITTEE CCLEC – CARIBBEAN CUSTOMS LAW
email: cis@wcoomd.org Novozavodskaj Street 11/5 ENFORCEMENT COUNSIL
121087 Moscow 4 Manoel Street
WESTERN EUROPE - GERMANY tel: 7 095 449 86 86 P.O.Box 1030
ZOLLKRIMINALAMT (ZKA) fax: 7 095 449 86 90/86 Tel: 1 758 453 2556
Bergisch Gladbacher Str. 837 e-mail: rilo-moscow@gubk.customs.ru Fax: 1 758 453 2563
51069 Cologne e-mail: cclec@candw.lc
tel: 49 221 672 4112 NORTH AFRICA - MOROCCO
fax: 49 221 672 4111 ADMINISTRATION DES DOUANES ET
e-mail: office@rilo-we.org IMPÔTS INDIRECTS
Avenue Annakhil, Hay Ryad,
CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE - POLAND Rabat
POLISH CUSTOMS SERVICE Tel: 212 37 57 94 42
MINISTRY OF FINANCE Fax: 212 37 71 78 38
12 Swietokrzyska Str, E-mail: brlr.rilo.naf@douane.gov.ma
00-916 Warsawa
tel: 48 228 26 9189 EASTERN/SOUTHERN AFRICA - KENYA
fax: 48 228 27 6797 KENYA REVENUE AUTHORITY
e-mail: mat@rilo-waw.pl Times Tower 9th Floor
or agnes@rilo-waw.pl Haile Selassie Avenue
P.O. Box 72236
ASIA/PACIFIC – CHINA Nairobi
CHINESE CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION tel: 254 20 34 04 14
10th Floor, East Wing, Jia 10, fax: 254 20 31 79 64 or 254 20 24 13 17
Guang Hua Road - Chao Yang District e-mail: riloke@africaonline.co.ke
10026 Beijing
tel: 86 10 6539 6346 CENTRAL AFRICA - CAMEROON
fax: 86 10 6539 6349 DIRECTION NATIONALE DES DOUANES
e-mail: rilo-ap@customs.gov.cn B.P. 4049
Douala
MIDDLE EAST - SAUDI ARABIA tel: 237 343 1690
CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT fax: 237 343 1690
P.O. Box 22631, e-mail: eyambe@hotmail.com
Riyadh
tel: 966 1 478 7889 WEST AFRICA - SENEGAL
fax: 966 1 478 5887 Rue René Ndiaye, Angle Carde
e-mail: rilo1@hotmail.com B.P. 4033
Dakar
SOUTH AMERICA - CHILE tel: 221 822 1185
DIRECCIÓN NACIONAL DE ADUANAS fax: 221 822 5569
Plaza Sotomayor, 60 e-mail: i.seck@sentoo.sn
Valparaiso
tel: 56 32 20 0815
fax: 56 32 23 31 63/25 4034
e-mail: rilosa@aduana.cl

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Tobacco GB14/06 14/06/04 11:33 Page 53
Footnotes
(1) It is worth mentioning that the trend in that country refers to
the illegal export of globally recognized, very high-quality to-
bacco products. The contraband is normally concealed among
the personal effects of air passengers and is detected by using
x-rays. The four most significant seizures involved a total of
14,525 cigars.
(2) The analysis does not include data from the UK. These data
were to some extent available for 2003 and were not available
in time for 2002. Nevertheless, HM Customs and Excise made
available some intelligence reports which were of great help in
better understanding the phenomenon of cigarette smuggling.
(3) See chapter 9.2
(4) See chapter 8.9
(5) See chapters 8.9 and 8.10
(6) In November 2002, the EU Customs Co-operation Working
Group (CCWG) approved the implementation of a Joint
Customs Operation (JCO) for 2003 targeted at cigarettes and
alcohol in maritime container shipments. The JCO was organ-
ized by Italy as the forerunner country and joined by 12 EU
member states, plus five other countries (Cyprus, Estonia,
Malta, Norway and Turkey). The exercise was called
Operation Hydra.
RILO WE received the mandate to provide intelligence for the
preparation of the operational part of the exercise.
The analytical report, which is now available on the CEN
website, was to identify the main cigarette routes for Europe
leaving China and Hong Kong China, the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania and
Latvia) and Lebanon.
The analytical support, based on information reported in the
CEN, has been highly useful and the results of the operation
highly satisfactory. Six cigarette seizures have been made: four
in Italy and one each in Germany and the UK. A total of near-
ly 41 million cigarettes have been seized, arriving from China
and the UAE.
(7) The relevant information will be entered into the CEN data-
base as soon as possible.
(8) It should be noted that Cameroon has 365 km of unprotect-
ed coastal land. Smuggled cigarettes are loaded into vehicles
and covered with rejected bananas from the nearby banana
plantations.
WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003
Footnotes
(9) South Africa Revenue Service - Report on cigarette and tobac-
co smuggling 2003.
(10) South Africa Revenue Service - Report on cigarette and tobac-
co smuggling 2003.
(11) South Africa Revenue Service - Report on cigarette and tobac-
co smuggling 2003.
(12) South Africa Revenue Service - Report on cigarette and tobac-
co smuggling 2003.
(13) Further and more detailed information on the situation of to-
bacco smuggling in Hong Kong, China, Australia and New
Zealand may be obtained from the RILO Monthly Bulletins for
Asia and the Pacific. Cf. in particular issues no. 190, 191 and
192 of October, November and December 2003 respectively.
(14) Operation “Hydra”.
(15) More details on the use of all the above-mentioned cover
loads and others have been reported during the year 2003 in
every issue of RILO WE Roundup, published on the CEN
website.
(16) Review of activities of the RILO-Moscow Participant
Countries Customs Bodies in Preventing Tobacco Products
Smuggling in 2003.
(17) WCO IPR Strategic Group: “Smuggling, Counterfeiting and
Piracy: the Rising Tide of Contraband and Organised Crime in
Europe”. www.wcoipr.org
(18) US Customs and Border Protection, L.A. Strategic Trade
Center. www.cpb.gov
(19) Other types of tobacco, such as mouth tobacco, water pipe to-
bacco, fruit tobacco and raw tobacco, are not included.
(20) Detailed information on the seizures of smoking tobacco
carried out in Italy and France during 2003 may be found in
RILO WE Roundup no. 2 and 4/2003 respectively. Both bul-
letins are available on the CEN website.
(21) In addition, Germany reported a further seizure of 40 tonnes
of raw tobacco also originating in Vietnam and having the
Czech Republic as its final destination.
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Annexes

Number of seizures and quantities by region and country under the minimum limit of 100,000 pieces

REGION COUNTRY 2002 2003 Grand Total

Asia and Pacific Australia 1 1 2

7,200 90,000 97,200
Brunei 2 2
134,000 134,000
Fiji 1 1
14,000 14.000
India 1 1 2
21,873 17.200 39.073
Sri Lanka 4 14 18
160,000 733,200 893,200
Mongolia 3 1 4
34,200 72,000 106,200
New Zealand 1 1
52,200 52,200
Singapore 2 2
110,000 110,000
Asia and Pacific – Total number of seizures 11 21 32
Asia and Pacific – Total quantity 289,473 1,156,400 1,445,873

CIS Russian Fed. 461 461

25,203,561 25,203,561
CIS – Total number of seizures 461 461
CIS – Total quantity 25.203.561 25.203.561

E a s t e r n a n d C e n t r a l E u r o p e Czech Republic 129 219 348

1,994,780 3,103,285 5,098,065
Estonia 32 30 62
477,200 308,200 785,400
Poland 201 721 922
5,500,793 22,958,655 28,459,448
Slovenia 9 6 15
209,340 94,340 303,680
Slovakia 19 19
548,300 548,300
Turkey 10 10
629,400 629,400
Eastern and Central Europe – Total number of seizures 400 976 1,376
Eastern and Central Europe – Total quantity 9,359,813 26,464,480 35,824,293

Middle East Saudi Arabia 1 1

14,200 14,200
UAE 1 1
2,077 2,077
Kuwait 1 1
41 41
Middle East – Total number of seizures 2 1 3
Middle East – Total quantity 16,227 41 16,318

North Africa Algeria 3 1 4

127,000 94,820 221,820
Morocco 61 3 64
283,180 142,600 425,780
North Africa – Total number of seizures 64 4 68
North Africa – Total quantity 410,180 237,420 647,600
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Annexes

Number of seizures and quantities by region and country under the minimum limit of 100,000 pieces

REGION COUNTRY 2002 2003 Grand Total

North America Canada 6 6

357,800 357,800
North America – Total number of seizures 6 6
North America – Total quantity 357,800 357,800

Central and South America Brazil 2 24 26

90,625 1,091,560 1,182,185
Uruguay 5 5
60,510 60,510
Central and South America – Total number of seizures 7 24 31
Central and South America – Total quantity 151,135 1,091,560 1,242,695

Eastern and Southern Africa Mauritius 2 2

4,800 4,800
South Africa 36 16 52
1,241,740 312,380 1,554,120
Eastern and Southern Africa – Total number of seizures 38 16 54
Eastern and Southern Africa – Total quantity 1,246,540 312,380 1,558,920

Western Europe Andorra 28 26 54

590,700 497,720 1,088,420
Austria 1 1
96,000 96,000
Belgium 4 4
285,080 285,080
France 1 1
5,800 5,800
Germany 1 1
79,980 79,980
Denmark 25 11 36
540,915 260,330 801,245
Iceland 13 29 42
41,640 111,600 153,240
Italy 1 1
7,120 7,120
Spain 1 1
20,000 20,000
Switzerland 2 2
70,000 70,000
The Netherlands 1 2 3
40,000 94,507 134,507
Western Europe – Total number of seizures 73 73 146
Western Europe – Total quantity 1,472,155 1,269,237 2,741,392

Number of seizures (grand total) 1,056 1,121 2,177

Quantity (grand total) 38,149,134 30,889,318 69,038,452

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Annexes

Number of seizures and quantities by region and country with a minimum limit of 100,000 pieces

REGION COUNTRY 2002 2003 Grand Total

Asia and Pacific Australia 14 9 23

40,486,800 31,931,053 72,417,853
Bangladesh 1 1 2
379,400 1,000,000 1,379,400
China 5 9 14
59,590,000 76,960,900 136,550,900
Fiji 1 1
160,000 160,000
Hong Kong, China 37 29 66
151,366,840 83,097,950 234,464,790
India 1 1
3,810,000 3,810,000
Indonesia 2 2
10,750,000 10,750,000
Mongolia 1 1 2
150,000 200,000 350,000
Malaysia 8 1 9
13,712,900 11,340,000 25,052,900
Singapore 2 1 3
28,700,000 18,400,000 47,100,000
Sri Lanka 4 13 17
4,473,800 9,869,800 14,343,600
Thailand 1 1
6,240,000 6,240,000
Asia and Pacific – Total number of seizures 74 67 141
Asia and Pacific – Total quantity 305,259,740 247,359,703 552,619,443

CIS Belarus 27 5 32
24,666,920 17,010,000 41,676,920
Russian Federation 17 17
22,155,200 22,155,200
CIS – Total number of seizures 44 5 49
CIS – Total quantity 46,822,120 17,010,000 63,832,120

Eastern and Central Europe Bulgaria 5 4 9

13,179,600 20,215,200 33,394,800
Czech Republic 11 27 38
23,778,180 22,347,244 46,125,424
Estonia 4 3 7
15,525,536 6,040,000 21,565,536
FYROM 3 3
6,879,000 6,879,000
Greece 8 5 13
89,432,000 24,222,800 113,654,800
Hungary 70 46 116
61,999,120 23,422,920 85,422,040
Latvia 4 4
8,074,560 8,074,560
Lithuania 18 11 29
126,813,480 30,827,680 157,641,160
Poland 73 150 223
121,810,230 100,314,205 222,124,435
Serbia and 1 1
Montenegro 399.600 399.600
Slovakia 12 18 30
12,671,190 15,778,040 28,449,230
Slovenia 2 2
5,750,000 5,750,000
Turkey 16 9 25
95,589,780 22,374,200 117,963,980
Ukraine 43 9 52
25,857,300 5,782.520 31,639,820
Eastern and Central Europe – Total number of seizures 264 288 552
Eastern and Central Europe – Total quantity 594,730,976 284,353,409 879,084,385
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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Annexes

Number of seizures and quantities by region and country with a minimum limit of 100,000 pieces

REGION COUNTRY 2002 2003 Grand Total

I Middle East Israel 26 7 33

182,092,500 24,979,140 207,071,640
Lebanon 12 6 18
113,673,160 27,466,200 141,139.360
Middle East – Total number of seizures 38 13 51
Middle East – Total quantity 295,765,660 52,445,340 348,211,000

North Africa Algeria 47 26 73

135,534,600 51,866,600 187,401,200
Morocco 1 1
128,000 128,000
North Africa – Total number of seizures 48 26 74
North Africa – Total quantity 135,662,600 51,866,600 187,529,200

North America Canada 1 11 12

5,440,000 54,422,820 59,862,820
North America – Total number of seizures 1 11 12
North America – Total quantity 5,440,000 54,422,820 59,862,820

Eastern and Southern Africa Kenya 1 1

290,000 290,000
South Africa 13 24 37
41.863,400 51,201,240 93,064,640
Eastern and Southern Africa – Total number of seizures 14 24 38
Eastern and Southern Africa – Total quantity 42,153,400 51,201,240 93.354,640

Western Africa Mali 2 2

612,800 612,800
Western Africa – Total number of seizures 2 2
Western Africa – Total quantity 612,800 612,800

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

Annexes

No. of seizures and quantity seized by region and countries of seizures below 100,000 pieces

REGION COUNTRY 2002 2003 Grand Total

Western Europe Austria 31 26 57

29,196,063 80,050,520 109,246,583
Belgium 42 31 73
238,781,490 131,042,580 369,824,070
Germany 179 147 326
270,343,502 217,969,789 488,313,291
Denmark 3 4 7
1,423,000 6,912,120 8,335,120
Finland 8 10 18
10,011,000 4,538,600 14,549,600
France 46 72 118
127,964,860 158,483,730 286,448,590
Ireland 9 18 27
56.211.040 36.468.080 92,679,120
Italy 79 63 142
293,570,000 218,168,440 511,738,640
Malta 3 2 5
15,050,000 12,820,000 27,870,000
Norway 10 5 15
3,948,220 1,766,080 5,714,300
Portugal 3 3
29,096,723 29,096,723
Spain 18 34 52
116,052,060 213,028,940 329.081,000
Sweden 25 25 50
20,843,420 53,327,840 74,171,260
Switzerland 1 1
131,000 131,000
The Netherlands 21 23 44
58,526,716 62,160,140 120,686,856
Western Europe – Total number of seizures 477 461 938
Western Europe – Total quantity 1,271,018,294 1,196,867,859 2,467,886,153

Central and South America Brazil 2 331 333

14,027,800 555,886,200 569,914,000
Chile 1 8 9
5,042,800 45,957,400 51,000,200
Uruguay 2 3 5
8,998,200 1,500,000 10,498,200
Central and South America – Total number of seizures 5 342 347
Central and South America – Total quantity 28,068,800 603,343,600 631,412,400

Number of seizures (grand total) 965 1,239 2,204

Quantity (grand total) 2,724,921,590 2,559,483,371 5,284,404,961

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

WCO
Mission
Statement
The World Customs Organization is an in-
dependent intergovernmental body whose
mission is to enhance the efficiency and ef-
fectiveness of Member Customs administra-
tions, thereby assisting them to contribute
successfully to national development goals,
particularly in the areas of trade facilitation,
revenue collection, community protection
and national security.
WCO
Vision
Statement
The World Customs Organization is inter-
nationally acknowledged as the global cen-
tre of Customs expertise and plays a leading
role in the discussion, development, promo-
tion and implementation of modern and se-
cure Customs systems and procedures. It is
responsive to the needs of its Members and
its strategic environment, and its instru-
ments and best-practice approaches are rec-
ognized as the basis for sound Customs
administration throughout the world.

Acknowledgements
The World Customs Organization is grateful
to the analysts of RILO Western Europe, CPA
Rotterdam and RILO Asia/Pacific for their
hard work in producing the analysis.
The WCO is also grateful for the specific
contributions to this annual Report provided
by the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices,
their National Contact Points and the
Customs Administration of Canada.

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WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2003

60
WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION
30 rue du Marché
B-1210 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 (0)2 209 92 11
Fax: +32 (0)2 209 92 92
E-mail: information@wcoomd.org
Website: www.wcoomd.org