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The black market of cigarettes rose slightly in November 2018, to 15.4pct of total consumption, by 0.1 percentage points more than in September 2018, according to a Novel Research survey.
The annual average illicit cigarette trade in 2018 is 16.3pct, up from 16pct as it was in 2017.
According to the survey, the northeastern region saw in November 2018 rising smuggling by 7.6 percentage points (pp.) from September, reaching 41.1pct.
"A significant 4.9 pp negative rise is also registered in the south-west, where the previous survey noted the most significant decrease. On the other hand, in the Bucharest area there is a consistent decrease of almost 6 pp, and in the west, by 5.7pct up to 20.4pct. From the point of view of origin, "cheap whites" (legally or illegally produced no-name cigarettes for the black market) continues to be the main source, with nearly 60pct. The share of produced tobacco products smuggled from (Republic of ) Moldova is growing (5.6 pp to 27.2pct), while that from Ukraine and Serbia remain relatively constant," said Marian Marcu, general manager of Novel Research.
British American Tobacco representative Ileana Dumitru says that the Government's decision to additionally charge the legal industry and consumers with the highest increase in excise duty on cigarettes since 2010 is surprising, as smuggling has increased over the past year.
Gilda Lazar, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications JTI Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria, says there is a real risk of witnessing a spectacular rise in smuggling and a significant impact on inflation, because "fiscal policy is done impulsively, without impact analysis and without a coherent plan to combat negative effects."
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According to ANAF (National Agency for Tax Administration) data, in the first 11 months of 2018, customs control teams seized over 45 million cigarettes. "(...) It is the first time in the last four years when the level of the illicit market drops at the end of the year from the level at the start of the year," says ANAF vice-president Bogdan Lari Mihei.
The tobacco sector is the second-largest taxpayer to Romania's state budget, after oil.
AGERPRES .
