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Stores closures fear on ciggies
Friday 17th August 2007, 12:13AM BST.
One in five newsagents in the West Midlands are facing closure because people are buying illegal fake cigarettes, it is claimed.
Independent retailers consider smuggled and counterfeit tobacco a bigger threat to business than large supermarkets selling cigarettes at lower prices.
Around 21 per cent of retailers questioned in a survey of Midlands newsagents reported that counterfeit cigarettes were causing serious slumps in their profits meaning they feared for the future of their businesses.
Retailers are calling for tougher sentences for those who sell illegal tobacco. Members of Retailers Against Smuggling, who campaign against the illegal tob- acco trade, want extra customs officers at ports and airports to combat the problem.
They also think that reducing or freezing tax on tobacco would ease the problem – as it would cut smugglers’ high profit margins.
Rajendra Patel, who has run R S News on Wolverhampton Street in Willenhall for 15 years, said it is getting harder to make ends meet.
The 49-year-old said: “Sales have fallen dramatically. We are down 30 per cent on a major source of income. As well as the smuggling, people are going abroad and buying tobacco, sometimes up to six months supply at a time.”
People who bring cigarettes into the country without paying UK duty and then sell the cigarettes face a seven-year jail term and an unlimited fine.
Smuggled and counterfeit tobacco products also cause the Treasury to lose £2.6 billion each year in lost taxes, more than £7 million each day, which could be spent on schools, hospitals and other public services.
By Daniel Wainwright
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well if they lowered the price then maybe ppl wud start buyin more out the shops
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Hmmm.. how exactly do these shopkeepers KNOW that their falling sales are due to illegal imports?
What about all those folks who are quitting due to the Smoking ban?
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I agree Richard….. It’s too easy to blame the people that are just trying to save themselves some money and escape the ludicrous taxation we face in this country.
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The government want all the revenue from ciggies and are whining when people go abroad to buy them to avoid our extortionate tax, and they are saying the money could be spent on hospitals and such. Please note the phrase “could be”, in reality the money would probably go to pay for some center to help our growing immigration population. Or it may go on improving road safety with more speed cameras placed in stupid locations or then again lets build some more mosques as there are not enough in this country
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well said andy t lol
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Speed cameras in stupid locations? Haven’t come across those.
Do you mean along farm tracks, walking areas and so on?
Now speed cameras covering roads aren’t too bad. Some people slow down rather than pay money.
The shopkeepers will have been feeling the pinch from reduced ciggie sales for some time, what with stop smoking campaigns. Maybe its time for them to concentrate on widening their income base in the shops – so reduction in one area can be offset by sales of other goods.
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LOL, yes martin ;)
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Well said Andy, I totally agree, this country is a total shambles.
If people want to smoke and they can get fags/tobacco cheaper in another country, then why not buy it there. We are sick to death that all our hard earned cash (well those of us who work)goes towards keeping the lazy idle gits who will not work because they find it easier to spunge off others. I say stop the benfits now and make em work, or as already said lets build another mosque or two.
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