Beyond the headlines: the reality of illicit tobacco in the UK

This report provides an evidence-based assessment of the UK illicit tobacco market. It has been produced by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and endorsed by the Illicit Tobacco Partnership and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). It draws on national data, international reporting, regional insights and independent academic evidence to:

• Provide an overview of the UK illicit tobacco market
• Describe the UK’s approach to illicit tobacco enforcement 
• Set out recommendations to strengthen the UK’s enforcement efforts 
• Scrutinise tobacco industry claims about the illicit market 
• Describe how tobacco companies exploit concerns about the illicit trade

Key findings:

• Tobacco manufacturers exaggerate the size of the UK illicit tobacco market threefold to help them lobby against tobacco taxes and new laws designed to create a smokefree generation.

• The number of illicit cigarettes consumed annually has fallen by almost 90% since 2000, despite cigarette prices more than tripling.

• Tougher action is needed against criminal retailers and organised crime, alongside continued efforts to reduce smoking rates.
• The best way to tackle the illicit tobacco trade is to reduce demand by supporting the 4.9 million UK smokers to quit. 

Recommendations

Maintain and refine what works

1. Maintain current levels of funding for local, regional and national illicit tobacco enforcement activity until at least 2029.

2. Implement the current HMRC illicit tobacco strategy and publish an evaluation ahead of renewing the strategy in 2029.

3. Support all local authorities to use the Track and Trace referral scheme to enable HMRC to enforce penalties against retailers who break the law.

4. Develop insight and evidence-led national campaigns to reduce demand for illicit tobacco, generate intelligence, and increase quit attempts. 

5. Continue to show international leadership by working with countries, particularly across Europe, to implement the lessons from the UK's successful efforts to reduce the illicit tobacco market and support the development and implementation of the Illicit Trade Protocol.

Strengthen our approach to tackling illicit tobacco 

6. Conduct and publish surveys of smokers broken down to regional level to better understand the population of smokers purchasing illicit tobacco and support more effective enforcement and engagement activity. 

7. Introduce a comprehensive tobacco retail licensing scheme with strict penalties for retailers who sell illicit products or sell to children. The scheme should be integrated with the national tobacco Track and Trace system to strengthen supply chain controls.

8. Revise Economic Operator ID (EOID) regulations to require publication of tobacco retailer EOIDs to support enforcement and communications activity. 

Address the wider factors which contribute to the illicit trade

9. Restore Trading Standards funding to pre-austerity levels, alongside the £10 million a year already committed to illicit tobacco and vapes enforcement.

10. Ensure Regional Organised Crime Units and the National Crime Agency are actively engaged in illicit tobacco enforcement.

11. Boost efforts to tackle criminality on the high street by strengthening Closure Order powers to enable Trading Standards and the police to shut down shops selling illicit tobacco.

Reduce the demand for illicit tobacco by ending smoking 

The only way to eliminate the demand for both legal and illegal tobacco is to support the 4.9 million smokers in the UK to quit and ensure no one starts. The government should:

12. Implement the smokefree generation policy to phase out smoking for future generations.

13. Publish a new tobacco control strategy setting out measures to support the 4.9 million UK smokers to quit.

14. Introduce a polluter pays levy on tobacco manufacturers to raise sustainable funding for tobacco control activity and prevent the industry from manipulating prices to maximise their profits.