Combatting Illicit Trade on the EU Border: A Comparative Perspective

283 Pages·2021·3.416 MB·English

by  Celina Nowak

Celina Nowak Editor
Combatting
Illicit Trade on
the EU Border
A Comparative Perspective
Combatting Illicit Trade on the EU Border
Celina Nowak
Editor
Combatting Illicit Trade
on the EU Border
A Comparative Perspective
Editor
CelinaNowak
InstituteofLawStudies
PolishAcademyofSciences
Warsaw,Poland
ISBN978-3-030-51018-3 ISBN978-3-030-51019-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51019-0
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Acknowledgements
Thisstudy,conductedattheCentreforStudiesonEconomicCrimeintheInstituteof
Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, was funded by PMI IMPACT, a grant
award initiative of Philip Morris International (PMI). In the performance of its
research, the Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, maintained
full independence from PMI. The views and opinions expressed in this document
are those of the research team and do not necessarily reflect the views of PMI.
Responsibilityfortheinformationandviewsexpressedinthiscollectionliesentirely
withtheInstituteofLawStudies,PolishAcademyofSciences.NeitherPMI,norany
ofitsaffiliates,noranypersonactingontheirbehalfmaybeheldresponsibleforany
useoftheinformationcontainedherein.
Allerrorsarethoseoftheauthors.
v
Contents
PartI Introduction
Introduction:FightingAgainstIllicitTobaccoTradeintheEraofFast
Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CelinaNowak
InternationalLegalFrameworkontheFightAgainstIllicitTobacco
Trade:AnOverview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CelinaNowak
PartII CriminalPolicywithRegardtoIllicitTobaccoTrade:
NationalExperiencesandChallenges
BetweenTaxes,CriminalLawandHealthCare:TheFightAgainst
IllicitTobaccoTradeinGermany. .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . 29
MarcEngelhart
TheItalianNationalLegalFrameworkRelatedtoIllicitTrade
inTobaccoProducts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
DanieleNegri
PreventionofIllicitTradeinTobaccoProducts:Experience
ofLithuania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
GintarasŠvedas
LegalandPracticalChallengesofCombatingIllicitTradeofTobacco
inPoland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
KonradBuczkowskiandPawełDziekański
AComplexLegalFrameworkforaLackofLegalCertainty:Case
StudyofRomania. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
SergiuBogdan
vii
viii Contents
PreventionandRepressionofIllicitTradeinTobaccoProducts:
ExperienceofSlovakia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
LiborKlimek
PartIII Conclusions
Conclusions:CriminalPolicyonIllicitTobaccoTradeBetweenScylla
ofHealthConcernsandCharybdisofFiscalInterests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
KonradBuczkowskiandCelinaNowak
Part I
Introduction
Introduction: Fighting Against Illicit
Tobacco Trade in the Era of Fast Change
CelinaNowak
Contents
1 NationalCriminalPolicyasaPartofTobaccoControlPolicy:Justification
oftheResearch................................................................................. 3
2 ScopeoftheBook,MethodologicalandTerminologicalConsiderations.................... 6
3 ResearchQuestions,StructureandContentoftheStudy..................................... 8
References.......................................................................................... 9
Abstract This chapter outlines the framework of the research presented in this
volume. It starts with a notion that national criminal policies on illicit tobacco
trade are a part of the national tobacco control policy, and at the same time a part
ofageneralnationalcriminalpolicyandpointstotheneedforanin-depthresearch
ofnationalcriminallawsinthisregard.Itpresentsthescopeoftheresearch,which
consistsinacomparativeanalysisabouttheillicittobaccotradeandabouteffortsto
counteract that trade in six EU Member States—four post-communist states (Lith-
uania,Poland,SlovakiaandRomania),ontheEasternborderoftheUnionandtwo
“old”EUMemberStates(Germany,Italy).
1 National Criminal Policy as a Part of Tobacco Control
Policy: Justification of the Research
Tobacco is the name commonly used to represent some plants in the Nicotiana
genus, as well as products made with leaves of the tobacco plants. The latter is a
substancethatishazardousforhumanhealth.
C.Nowak(*)
InstituteofLawStudies,PolishAcademyofSciences,Warsaw,Poland
e-mail:[email protected]
©TheAuthor(s)2021 3
C.Nowak(ed.),CombattingIllicitTradeontheEUBorder,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51019-0_1
4 C.Nowak
Tobaccohasbeenwithmankindformillennia.Yet,itsexpansionasatradeitem
forpersonalusedatestothesixteenthcenturyandthearrivaloftheEuropeanstothe
Americas. In the twentieth century, scientists concluded that tobacco use is detri-
mental to the health of its users. Tobacco has been identified by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as one of the four major risk factors that contribute to the
developmentofnon-communicablediseases.Tobacco“accountsforover7.2million
deathseveryyear(includingfromtheeffectsofexposuretosecond-handsmoke)”.1
The recent global rise of deaths attributed to non-communicable diseases has
motivated international organisations to take action to prevent and control the risk
factors.2 Controlling the production and controlling the use of tobacco have been
significantpartsofthisprocess.
The relationship between tobacco and individual country policies are complex.
On the one hand, states are socially and politically committed to the reduction of
tobaccouse.Ontheotherhand,statesbenefitfinanciallyfromtaxrevenuefromthe
manufactureandsalesoftobaccoproducts.Fromthisperspective,therelationships
stateshavewithtobaccoareliketheirrelationshipswithalcohol.Althoughtheuseof
alcohol and tobacco constitute health hazards, they remain legal, unlike narcotic
substances. As von Lampe justly states, “cigarettes are essentially a legal good”.3
However,statesarecommittedtofightingagainstrevenuelossfromthemanufacture
and sale of tobacco products. The manufacture and trade of cigarettes are legal,
provided these processes conform to the cigarette taxation rules adopted by states.
Cigarettetradeisillegalwhenmanufacturersandsellersevadecigarettetaxes.
National policies on the tobacco trade struggle to balance states’ fiscal interests
with their responsibility to protect public health. This balance is mainly struck by
pricingtobaccoproductsathighrates.AsstatedinArticle6.1oftheWHOFCTC,
price and tax measures are effective means of reducing tobacco consumption by
varioussegmentsofthepopulation,youngpeople,inparticular.Therefore,tobacco
products are legal but taxable with the Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise taxes.
Moreover, the EU Member States are obligated to apply the European minimum
rates of the excise duty.4 This application is uniform because, as mentioned in the
preambletothe2011Directive,“theleveloftaxationisamajorfactorinthepriceof
tobacco products, which in turn influences consumers’ smoking habits. Fraud and
smugglingunderminetaxinducedpricelevelsandthusjeopardisetheachievement
oftobaccocontrolandhealthprotectionobjectives”.
1Aquotefrom“GBD2015RiskFactorsCollaborators(2016),pp.1659–1724”.Seehttps://www.
who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases.
2Cf.Resolutionadoptedon24January2012bytheGeneralAssemblyNo66/2.PoliticalDecla-
ration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of
Non-communicableDiseaseswithAnnex:PoliticalDeclarationoftheHigh-levelMeetingofthe
GeneralAssemblyonthePreventionandControlofNon-communicableDiseases.
3vonLampe(2011),p.148.
4Cf.theCouncilDirective2011/64/EUof21June2011onthestructureandratesofexciseduty
appliedtomanufacturedtobacco,OJ5.7.2011,L176/24.