The Duty Free World Council (DFWC) has instructed TRBusiness that the Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will now come into force next September as the requirement for 40 ratifying countries has been met.

As a result the first meeting of the ‘Parties to the Protocol’ (MOP1) will take place this October in Geneva.

At this meeting, the parties will discuss the next steps in implementing the measures set out in the Protocol. All provisions of the Protocol will apply equally to the duty free channel as to all other retail channels.

“The duty free industry supports this measure and is keen to identify solutions for the duty free channel to meet the objectives of the Protocol,” says the DFWC.

“However the Protocol also mandates for research to be carried out within five years into ‘the extent to which’ duty free contributes to illicit trade in tobacco products.”

Frank O’Connell, President of the Duty Free World Council.

DUTY FREE DOES NOT CONTRIBUTE TO ILLICIT TRADE

The WHO’s starting assumption therefore is that duty free is a source of illicit trade. The DFWC has been leading a global campaign together with the other regional associations to communicate to governments of Parties to the Protocol that the industry vigorously rejects any claims that duty free tobacco sales contribute to illicit trade.

In response to queries Frank O’Connell, President of the Duty Free World Council, commented: “We refute completely any allegations that the duty free industry is complicit in illicit trade. There is no justification in penalising legitimate law abiding retailers, brands, airports and the maritime trade under the pretext of illicit trade.”

The DFWC says that the duty free industry also maintains that any research should not take place until all the measures of the Protocol have been put in place, that all signatory countries are aligned on the methodology of the study and that it must be carried out in a fair and objective manner with full industry participation.

“Duty free tobacco sales are frequently confused with other trade channels,” says the DFWC. Duty free is not ‘duty not paid’ sales, ‘cross-border trade’ or ‘free zone’ sales. Duty free is a highly regulated retail environment that takes place at airports, ports, in-flight and onboard ferries and at land border shops, overseen by national customs authorities.”