Tobacco Retailers’ Alliance Slams Licensing Scheme Call

Source from:  Talking Retail 11/08/2017

The Tobacco Retailers’ Alliance (TRA) has criticised control group Fresh North East for calling on the government to introduce a licensing scheme for tobacco retailers and manufacturers to fund improved enforcement and other measures to reduce smoking prevalence.

The call by Fresh North East was contained in the results of the 2017 North East Illegal Tobacco Survey, which found that private addresses were the leading source of illicit tobacco rather than retail and that children were increasingly accessing illicit tobacco as their primary source.

Suleman Khonat, national spokesman of the TRA, said: “Fresh North East has well and truly let the cat out of the bag with its call to introduce an incensing scheme to simply raise cash. This is the first time that such a group has admitted this is why it wants a licensing scheme. Any scheme and costs would simply fall on many, small independent retailers.

“Yet its own figures published in this report show that any licensing scheme would have little impact on the illicit trade and that private sources, not retail, were by far and away the leading cause of illicit trade. This is therefore just blatant opportunism bending facts with no solid evidence to suit their own agenda.

“It also beggar’s belief for this group that has campaigned so aggressively for tax increases on tobacco in recent years to be surprised that the streets are now flooded with illegal tobacco that children are getting their hands on. Everyone knows that high taxes are the chief reason for illicit tobacco. This group needs to take responsibility for its actions.”  Enditem