Cigarette sales in shops have fallen 40 per cent in a year after in-store tobacco ads were banned, retailers claimed today.
One year after point-of-sale displays were outlawed, manufacturers and retailers claimed more people are smoking and the black market is meeting demand as over-the-counter sales drop.
Health campaigners from the Irish Cancer Society and Ash Ireland disputed the figures, however, and rejected suggestions an ad ban was to blame for increased smuggling.
Barry Gilsenan from Retailers Against Smuggling said the year-old order had normalised criminal trade in contraband tobacco, which now accounts for a quarter of all cigarettes in the country.
“We are not looking to promote the sale of cigarettes; tobacco is a legal product and an absolutely vital aspect of our income,” he said. “But it is worrying to see that criminals are now targeting shop keepers to sell illegal goods. This was inevitable I hate to say. When cigarettes are kept out of sight, it is very easy to trade illegal tobacco.”
The group claimed one in five of its members surveyed have been offered contraband and/or counterfeit tobacco to sell in their shop.
Kathleen O’Meara, head of advocacy with the Irish Cancer Society, said the claim that sales were down 40 per cent was extraordinary. “There is no link between point-of-sale regulation and smuggling and smoking,” she said.
The Revenue Commissioners said Customs estimate there is no duty paid on one fifth of the cigarettes in Ireland, which includes smuggled contraband and legal duty-free brought in for personal use. It also said 100 million cigarettes, worth €42 million in the shops and €33 million in tax to the Exchequer, have been seized this year.
The Office of Tobacco Control insists there is no evidence to back up claims that a ban on point-of-sale advertising and display increased the rate of tobacco smuggling in the last 12 months.
But the Irish Tobacco Manufactures’ Advisory Committee backed the retailers’ survey and claimed the ban had seen black-market business escalate. “The display ban has made the purchasing experience for tobacco products in legitimate outlets similar to that of the black market - undercover and furtive,” an Itmac spokesperson said.
“The ban has not achieved any stated public health benefit and has in fact normalised illegal cigarette selling.”
Prof Luke Clancy, Ash Ireland, also disputed the retailers’ figures. “I wish it were true that sales were down that much but the idea that the ban has made such a big shift is very unlikely. It’s hugely unlikely that that’s true. If it is true could they not think that it was that people have stopped buying tobacco, which is a good thing,” the anti-smoking campaigner said.
“Do they have evidence of the smuggling? They should put their money there to try and reduce smuggling. I do know that children say that they are no longer seeing the signs since the ban and adults are saying it’s easier to give up.”
Ireland has a 31 per cent smoking rate.
PA