Bangkok, Thailand – 8 March 2022: Philip Morris Trading Thailand (PMTT) applauds the government for their proactive efforts in preventing the trade of illegal cigarettes protecting the country’s revenue and affected parties in the legitimate, law-abiding, tax-paying industry.
“Excellent work by Thai authorities has resulted in over 850,000 illegal cigarettes seized in Songkla province recently. This is a great result and a large seizure, unfortunately, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the total illegal and fake cigarettes in circulation, particularly in the five key southern provinces,” said Gerald Margolis, Managing Director Philip Morris Trading Thailand (PMTT).
Mr. Margolis cited the results of the most recent PMTT Empty Packs Survey (Q4 2021) showing “Songkhla as one of five Southern Thailand provinces with the highest provincial incidence of illegal cigarettes in the country. Songkhla has a remarkable 84.5% of all cigarettes collected having no taxes paid. The others include Satun (84.1%), Surat Thani (57.7%), Phattalung (56.9%), and Nakhon Si Thammarat (46.9%). Most of the illicit cigarettes in Thailand (77%) came from the south (these five provinces plus Phuket and Ranong). While nationally, the incidence of illicit cigarettes increased nearly 70%, from 6.2% in October 2020 to 10.3% in October 2021, the highest occurrence of illegal cigarettes in 10 years.
Illegal cigarettes entering the market have a significant effect on the entire industry supply chain, including over 30,000 tobacco grower families, 500,000 legitimate retailers, manufacturers, and government revenue. Lost tax revenue is estimated at nearly 7 billion baht in 2021, a 67% increase compared to 2020.
“Additionally, the problem of counterfeit cigarettes has increased for PMTT brands. The 10.3% total illicit cigarette incidence includes 1% in counterfeits of our brands, up from 0.5% in 2020. Additionally, 2021 was the first year counterfeit products were discovered in standard packaging, complete with graphic and text health warnings and a fake Thai excise tax stamp. This raises new concerns about trademark and intellectual property infringements.”
“PMTT is fully committed to fully supporting Thailand authorities in combatting this dramatic increase in illegal activity which has significant financial, intellectual property, and rule of law implications. We believe large seizures like the latest one in Songkla will trigger further actions against this dangerous and growing trade. We also anticipate it brings additional focus to the problem of illegal cigarettes in the South region and expects more successful operations like this through 2022,” added Margolis.
Delivering a Smoke-Free Future
Philip Morris Trading (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (PMTT”), an affiliate of Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI), is now a leader in the international cigarette import business in Thailand. We have commenced the import and sale of PMI’s tobacco brands since 1991. We have currently employed over 350 Thai employees to whom we attribute our corporate culture and business results in designing a smoke-free future.
We are now leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company, and its shareholders. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities, and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI’s smoke-free product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and nicotine-containing vapor products. As of 31 December 2021, PMI’s smoke-free products are available for sale in 71 markets in key cities or nationwide, and PMI estimates that approximately 15.3 million adult smokers around the world have already switched to its heated tobacco product and stopped smoking.
For more information, see https://www.philipmorristhailand.com and https://www.facebook.com/PhilipMorrisThailand/
