Cigarette Smuggling at $800m p.a.
EghtesadOnline: Cigarette consumption in Iran stands at 55 billion a year, of which 6 billion with an estimated value of 30 trillion rials ($800 million) are smuggled into the country, the head of Tobacco Planning and Supervision Center said.
“Cigarette smuggling has been on a major downtrend since the fiscal 2013-14. However, it still takes a heavy toll on budget and the economy as well as local production,” Ali Asghar Ramzi added. The official had earlier put the number of smuggled cigarettes into the country at 2.15 billion in Q1 (March 21-June 21, 2017), 48% fewer than last year’s corresponding period, according to Financial Tribune. “The number of smuggled cigarettes confiscated last year rose to 1.74 billion from only 240 million in the fiscal 2013-14,” Amir Mohammad Parhamfar, another official with the center, said.
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