A leading tobacco manufacturer has called on the Government to ditch its plans to introduce a generational smoking ban and instead crack down on illicit tobacco sales following a covert operation in Nottingham.
An undercover test-purchasing operation, carried out by JTI, found 25 illicit tobacco and vape products in 17 stores throughout the city.
According to the company, counterfeit and contraband tobacco products were easily bought from the stores it visited. Roll-your-own packets with an RRP of £36.50 were found selling for as little as £5. Meanwhile cigarettes were discovered for £4. Illegal vapes with puff counts of up to 22,000 were also purchased. The guideline level is around 600 puffs.
Generational smoking ban could allow black market to ‘flourish’
Ian Howell, public affairs manager at JTI said: “The fast expansion of this market has been facilitated by years of increasing tobacco duties as well as lack of adequate budget and authority for enforcement organisations.
“The government needs to acknowledge the scale of the problem and to crack down on illicit tobacco sales as a priority rather than implementing a generational smoking ban which will simply allow the black market to flourish.”
All the findings of JTIs investigation have been handed to Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standards department.
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