Counterfeit and Contraband Fighting the Threat

摘要

It's a multi-national, multi-billion dollar industry. It's well organized and well financed. It sells popular products to loyal customers. And its results improve year on year. Enviable, but illegal: the illicit trade in counterfeit and contraband tobacco and alcohol. In 2000, the EU is estimated to have lost about 1 million EUR (US1.2 dolalr m) in duties per truckload of tobacco, leading to an annual loss of more than 1 billion EUR. The losses suffered by the tobacco and alcohol brand owners are noless significant. With brand theft and excise fraud cheating manufacturers, governments and taxpayers of such vast sums of money as well as endangering consumer health, it is critical to protect legitimate tobacco and alcohol products from the counterfeiters and smugglers at all stages of their development, production and distribution.