BES legislative proposals will help to reduce the share of the shadow tobacco market - "Ukrtiutiun"

Representatives of the Association "Ukrtiutiun" met with the management of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine. During the meeting, the results of counteracting the shadow market of excisable goods, improving the legislation regulating the circulation of tobacco products, as well as areas of cooperation between the Bureau and legal producers were discussed, the Association reported, according to UNN.

Details

During the meeting, Andrii Pashchuk, Acting Director of the BES, presented the results of the Bureau's work in this area. According to him, since September 14 last year, BES detectives have seized almost 160 million pieces of tobacco products, National Police officers - more than 37 million pieces, State Border Guard Service - 36 million pieces 

The participants also discussed legislative proposals submitted by the BES to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. These include the introduction of registers of tobacco producers and processors, the approval  of the rate of total losses and waste of fermented tobacco raw materials at 5% of the total volume, and the development of an algorithm for blocking payments when buying or selling illegal excisable goods. According to Pashchuk, such discussions are necessary to understand the position of legal business and build a constructive dialog, including in the context of legislative changes. 

The Association "Ukrtiutiun" generally supports these proposals of the Bureau of Economic Security and believes that their implementation can positively affect the reduction of the shadow segment.

"We are grateful to the BES for its work, the results of which are visible in the market. We are very pleased that they conduct an open dialog with us and involve us in discussing legislative proposals. For our part, we are ready to provide any assistance to law enforcement that is not prohibited by law, as the shadow market is a common problem for the state and legal business. It can only be solved by joining forces," said Natalia Fesyun, EBA Director General.

As a reminder, the Ukrainian Association of Tobacco Manufacturers "Ukrtiutiun" includes the following manufacturers of tobacco products on the Ukrainian market: Philip Morris Ukraine PJSC, JT International Company Ukraine JSC, JT International Ukraine PJSC, B.A.T. Tobacco Company Pryluky JSC, Imperial Tobacco Ukraine PJSC, Imperial Tobacco Production Ukraine PJSC.