Shopkeepers warn against 'black market' tobacco

The findings come as the Northern Ireland government considers plans to ban tobacco displays in shops. The survey was carried out by the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, which represents 26,000 independent shopkeepers across the UK and has campaigned against the proposed display ban.

John McKeown, a Ballymena shopkeeper and the Northern Ireland Spokesman for the Tobacco Retailers Alliance commented:

“There is a huge black market in tobacco in this country, and that really affects tobacco sales in small shops like mine. Putting tobacco under the counter will make smokers feel like they’re doing something illegal when they buy tobacco from a shop. If they think that, they might as well get it from a smuggler who sells it at half the price I can.

“Retailers like me ask customers for ID if we think they are under-age, but the criminals who sell smuggled and counterfeit tobacco aren’t bothered and will sell tobacco to anyone. This means black market tobacco is much more accessible to under-age smokers. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the Government to focus on tacking smuggling, rather than senselessly penalising corner shopkeepers through a display ban which they know won’t work?”

The black market in smuggled and counterfeit tobacco already causes a loss to the UK Treasury of 11 million each day, and deprives legitimate businesses of trade.

John McKeown commented: “What’s most annoying about the proposed display ban is that it has been proved not to work. In Canada where there has been a ban for some time, youth smoking has gone up rather than down since the ban. This would seem to indicate that display bans do not reduce youth smoking and, that being the case, there must surely be some other, better way to achieve the reduction.

“It’s through friends or family that the majority of underage smokers get their tobacco so if the government made it a crime for people over 18 to buy tobacco to give to those under 18, while at the same time putting more focus on tackling tobacco smuggling, youth smoking rates would be reduced.”

The survey also found that 75% of corner shopkeepers in Northern Ireland were aware of smuggled tobacco being sold in their area with 48% of these aware of some customers being underage.