DFWC President Sarah Branquinho.

The Duty Free World Council (DFWC) has noted the decision at the Fourth Meeting of Parties (MOP) to the Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP) to conclude substantive discussions on the relationship between duty free and illicit trade.

In a decision taken at MOP4, held from 24-26 November in Geneva, Parties to the Protocol concluded that the evidence-based research called for under Article 13.2 of the Protocol ‘did not identify duty free sales channels as a significant channel for the illicit trade in tobacco products’.

The Parties also noted that ‘most of the Parties have implemented measures to control the sale of duty free tobacco products and prevent their diversion into illicit trade channels’.

Parties to the Protocol determined that no further discussion on duty-free will be required at subsequent Illicit Trade Protocol meetings, substantively concluding the topic.

Commenting on the decision, DFWC President Sarah Branquinho said: “On behalf of the wider travel retail industry, the Duty Free World Council welcomes the decision by Protocol Parties to close this line of debate.

“The entire industry – associations, retailers, suppliers, airports – has pulled together to gather the robust evidence to demonstrate the integrity of our industry channel.

“As an industry we have been consistently clear – our supply chain is one of the most trusted, transparent and secure in the world. Our retailers and suppliers work closely with governments and regulators everywhere that duty free is sold to ensure that illicit trade cannot gain a foothold in our channel.

“Our sector will continue to work with customs and enforcement agencies around the world to ensure compliance, identify risks and uphold system integrity.”

DFWC President Sarah Branquinho at the 2024 MEADFA Conference. Photo: TFWA Press Office.

The update comes within the expected two-year timeframe following the World Health Organisation (WHO) having approved an evidence-based research study on illicit trading to ‘ascertain the extent of illicit trade in tobacco products related to duty free sales’.

The study, called for under Article 13.2 of the ITP, was given the green light at MOP3, which was held in Panama City on in February, 2024. At the time, the DFWC welcomed the decision and took the opportunity to demonstrate that the duty-free industry is ‘a partner in the fight against illicit trade, not a contributor to it’.

Led by DFWC, regional associations and stakeholders around the globe united to gather robust evidence to show that the duty-free industry is a trusted, transparent and secure channel.

With the ultimate conclusion now delivered, DFWC stressed that it’s now time to further enhance controls and systems.

“This is the moment where we now need to live up to what we have been able to achieve… and carry on with the good things we have been doing about securing the channel and making sure that we are legitimate and clean industry,” said Branquinho.

THE DFWC welcomes the decision by Protocol Parties to close the line of debate on the relationship between duty free and illicit trade in tobacco products. Photo: BadPixma / Shutterstock.com.

Following what the DFWC chief described as “an electrifying campaign”, the ability of duty-free stakeholders to work together to make an impact is seen as paying dividends for the future – not only for duty-free tobacco, which has been in the spotlight of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) for decades, but in terms of any other issues or challenges affecting the wider industry that could possibly arise in the future.

“The key learning is the value of working together along a very tight script,” said Branquinho. “We did things that we had never done before. We asked general managers in different countries to go to their customs officials and talk to them. We asked, sometimes, general managers to talk to government – and they’ve never done that before. It’s quite a steep learning curve if that’s not your skill set.”

Uniformity of messaging, coupled with key information delivered consistently within the industry, have played a key role in this.

Looking to further strengthening the industry’s voice in the future, DFWC said more work needs to be done to help industry stakeholders to recognise that, when it comes to protecting the reputation and integrity of the duty-free industry as whole, an all-stakeholder approach is needed – even on issues only affecting specific categories.

Reflecting on learning as a result of this latest campaign, Branquinho said: “Where we haven’t quite succeeded, if at all, is I think that some categories have still not understood that this industry is inter-dependent.

She continued: “It’s an enormous part of our industry we have just protected and when you multiply that by the number of people who go into a store to buy tobacco and then they end up buying other products, then we’ve protected more than the tobacco percentage of the industry. I think that’s a really important message.”

For a link to the decision in full, click here. 

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