About: Illicit whites

OLAF: Up to France to request help on genuine cigarettes smuggled from Algeria

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) stands ready to assist member states, such as France, in the fight against illicit tobacco trade with third countries, but it’s up to the national authorities to make a request, OLAF told EURACTIV.com. “OLAF will...

Tobacco smuggling: Marseille’s illicit secret

Like most big ports, Marseille has seen its fair share of crime and smuggling. The latest trend, seen almost everywhere in the bustling Mediterranean city, is the sale of cigarettes smuggled from North Africa. In the endless cat-and-mouse game with the police, smugglers seem to be winning, for now.

EU expected to mount pressure on Minsk over illicit ‘cheap whites’

The rising illicit tobacco trade and particularly of the so-called cheap whites from Belarus to the EU will be discussed at the next EU-Belarus meeting on 19 December, an EU official told EURACTIV.com.

Brussels urges Belarus to raise excise taxes on cigarettes

In an effort to halt the growing illicit tobacco trade from Belarus to Europe, the European Commission is calling on Minsk to approximate its excise duty rates to the levels in the EU.

EU anti-fraud official: Tobacco smuggling is ‘major source’ of organised crime

Cigarette smuggling costs national and EU budgets more than €10 billion annually in lost public revenue and is a major source of organised crime, including terrorism, Margarete Hofmann told Euractiv in an interview.