The creation of the Unified Database of Tobacco Products Samples by experts of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise may become an additional tool in the fight against the shadow cigarette market. This opinion was voiced by Andriy Savarets, an expert at the Center for Social and Economic Research "CASE Ukraine", in a commentary to UNN.
Answering the question about the prospects for the creation of the Tobacco Product Samples Database by the specialists of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, the expert noted that such a tool could be useful.
There are many fakes, including well-known brands. Indeed, as an additional step, this (creation of the Database - ed.) is possible. Such a tool can indeed be useful for quickly determining where cigarette packs come from. However, it is not a substitute for law enforcement. It is a routine activity that needs to be done. We need to document these offenses, investigate, and prosecute both the perpetrators - the people who transported the cartons of cigarettes and the organizers of illegal production
The expert added that Ukraine needs to determine its fiscal policy in the context of harmonization with European legislation.
The state has to decide on two things: either it needs money or it needs a healthy population. Because what is an excise tax? It is a tax on human vices. So it turns out that the state encourages people to smoke more to get more money. Or vice versa - you need to smoke less, take care of your health, but there will be less money in the budget. And when this question of more or less arises, the state wants more and starts raising taxes. In addition, there is, let's say, harmonization with European legislation, which suggests that we constantly increase the level of excise tax on tobacco products to synchronize them with European tax rates. What does the EU do in this way? It is shifting the problem of illegal imports of cigarettes from Ukraine onto us. This means that it becomes economically unprofitable to smuggle cigarettes to the EU, while it becomes interesting to sell illegal cigarettes on the domestic market of Ukraine
According to the expert, it is necessary to strengthen the role of law enforcement agencies in de-shadowing the tobacco market. He argues that there is no particular success in this area today. There are searches, detentions, seizures of excisable products and equipment for their production.
At the same time, starting in the third quarter of 2023, the shadow segment of the cigarette market grew sharply, driven by tax increases.
The expert notes that with the increase in revenue per pack of cigarettes, the volume of the shadow market has also grown.
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Oleksandr Ruvin, Director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, previously said that the institution's specialists are ready to create a database of tobacco product samples.
It is expected that the library of reference samples of finished tobacco products will include all samples of tobacco products sold in Ukraine. This will significantly increase the efficiency of examinations on the facts of detection of counterfeits and strengthen expert capabilities in the fight against illegal trafficking of the relevant goods. Currently, the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise has a full set of equipment, including a special hardware complex for determining the characteristics of tobacco and its origin, which allows for a prompt and complete examination of both tobacco products and their packaging materials. In addition, Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise is the only institution in Ukraine that conducts research on the equipment of illegal laboratories that produce drugs and tobacco products
According to economist Oleh Hetman, the proposal to oblige manufacturers to submit samples of tobacco products and to entrust the formation of a unified database to the Kyiv Research Institute arose within the framework of the Verkhovna Rada's Temporary Investigation Commission.