The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is stepping up its fight against the illegal smuggling of alcohol and tobacco products.

This was revealed by Minister of Finance, Davendranath Tancoo, who confirmed that the Customs and Excise Division has uncovered widespread smuggling operations that are costing the country millions in lost revenue.

“I am told that cigarettes that are manufactured locally for export to CARICOM are smuggled from those CARICOM countries back into Trinidad and Tobago. This allows the cigarettes to compete with products that are sold locally, directly by the manufacturer, allowing the importers, the illegal importers, to evade taxes, which is harmful to our revenue generation. But it is worse, Mr. Speaker. We are also aware of the illegal trade in low-priced, foreign-manufactured cigarettes, which are being sold to the public. We don’t know what these cigarettes contain, what toxicity levels there are, what carcinogens etc. are contained in these cigarettes, Mr. Speaker. The lives of our citizens are at risk.”

However, he stated that the Government’s budgetary measures include a “laser-focused direction” to equip the Board of Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise with the tools and personnel needed to combat smuggling through a “National Action Plan”, with an allocation of TT$2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Sean Sobers, also outlined the multi-agency strategy behind the initiative.

“Collectively, Mr. Speaker, this administration has put together several different frameworks to deal with and combat illicit trade of these types of goods within the country. There are components to strengthen the legal framework to combat illicit trade, strengthen the capacity of Government and enforcement agencies to combat illicit trade, enhance collaboration among regulatory and enforcement agencies, increase public awareness of illicit trade and the associated dangers.”