Press Release: All EU Member States now signatories to the agreements to combat illicit trade in tobacco products

The United Kingdom joined the 26 other EU Member States and the European Community as a signatory to the 2004 anti-contraband and anti-counterfeit agreement with Philip Morris International (PMI) and the 2007 cooperation agreement with Japan Tobacco International (JTI). Now all EU Member States are parties to these agreements. Every year, the European Community and the Member States lose hundreds of millions of euros in unpaid taxes from contraband and counterfeit cigarettes. Moreover, counterfeit and other forms of contraband create a parallel illegal supply chain that compromises legitimate distribution channels and competes unfairly with genuine products.