VietNamNet Bridge - Each year, some 600-700 million cigarette packs are smuggled into Vietnam, causing losses of nearly $190 million to the state treasury, says Mr. Do Thanh Lam, Deputy Director of the Market Management Agency.

Lam says that prevention of cigarette smuggling is one of the five key tasks of the Market Management Agency this year. In the first four months of the year, the agency seized 400,000 smuggled cigarette packs, collecting VND2 billion ($100,000) in fines. However, this is a very small number compared to the real volume of cigarettes smuggled into Vietnam each year.

Lam says, according to the study of international organizations, each year Vietnam loses about VND4 trillion ($190.5 million) due to tobacco smuggling. The quantity of cigarettes illegally brought into the country through the land border is up to 600-700 million packs a year.

According to Lam, the main reason for the increase in cigarette smuggling is the “taste” of Vietnamese smokers, who prefer foreign products.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has submitted its plan to curb cigarette smuggling to the Government.

Le Ha