Know What You're Buying? to educate adult
smokers and governments on dark underbelly of "cheap
cigs"
TORONTO, May 1, 2024
/CNW/ - JTI-Macdonald, a tobacco company operating in Canada for over 150 years, today took the
unprecedented step of launching Know What You're Buying?, a
digital campaign targeting the explosive growth of Canada's illegal tobacco industry in its
epicentre, the province of Ontario.
"I've worked in the tobacco industry for many years and I've
never seen anything like this," said Elaine
McKay, Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications for
JTI-Macdonald (JTI). "Canadian governments are sitting on the
sidelines while known criminal entities are taking over the
country's cigarette industry. These crime groups are undermining
years of public health efforts, costing around $2 billion of a year in lost tax revenue, making
it easier for youth to start smoking and giving criminals an easy
way to get rich," added McKay. "What will it take for governments
to step in?"
In Ontario alone, evidence
shows that one in three cigarettes smoked are illegal. Illegal
cigarettes manufactured in Ontario
are smuggled throughout Canada and
around the world. Unfortunately, as the illegal tobacco industry
has grown into a multi-billion-dollar juggernaut, Ontario has not collected a single tax dollar
from them.
According to the International Coalition Against Illicit
Economies, there are 173 known organized criminal groups (OCGs)
involved in Canada's illegal
cigarette trade.1 Collectively, they have cost
Canada around 12 billion dollars in evaded taxes, lost
productivity, criminal justice, and other direct costs. At the same
time, OCGs are getting rich. By some estimates, the illegal
cigarette trade is eight times as profitable as drug dealing and
the chances of being caught are marginal at best.2
"The message we are sending on illegal tobacco is that in
Canada, crime pays," said
Rick Penney, a retired Mountie and
the Anti Illicit Trade Manager, EU+ Americas, for JTI. "Every time
the police do make a seizure, it isn't just tobacco they are
finding. They are finding wads of cash, firearms, fentanyl, meth,
you name it. These are extremely dangerous people and they are
making off like bandits because illegal tobacco is seen as a high
profit, low risk enterprise. Police just aren't being given the
resources to go after it."
Canada's laissez-faire attitude
towards illegal cigarettes risks undermining decades of public
policy efforts to reduce youth access to cigarettes. Illegal
cigarettes are now being advertised to youth on social media sites
and sold brazenly on the internet without any age checks. They do
not conform to government regulations regarding packaging or
labelling. And they do not use self-extinguishing paper, which is
required under Canadian law.
"We are stepping in and educating the public because governments
are not raising this issue enough," said Elaine McKay. "As a tobacco company, we don't
expect to garner sympathy. But we do think all tax-paying
businesses should take note. The government is standing by while
known criminals actively undercut legal businesses by ignoring
every law and regulation and by evading all taxes. This impacts
Canada's reputation as a country
of law and order. And if nothing is done, the entire cigarette
market will go underground, outside the reach of health authorities
and tax collectors," concluded McKay.
To learn more, visit https://www.knowwhatyourebuying.ca
About JTI-Macdonald
Corp.
JTI-Macdonald Corp., established in 1858, is one of Canada's oldest and leading tobacco companies,
employing approximately 500 employees across the country with its
headquarters in Mississauga
(Ontario), manufacturing
facilities in Montreal
(Quebec) and sales offices across
the country.
JTI-Macdonald Corp is a member of the Japan Tobacco
International (JTI) group, a subsidiary of JT Inc. JTI is a leading
international tobacco and vaping company, with headquarters in
Geneva, Switzerland, and an
international workforce of 48,000 employees. Our world-renowned
brands are available in over 130 markets. We have been certified as
a Top Employer in 62 countries, ranking #3 in Canada and #1 in North America in 2023.
1
https://icaie.com/2023/11/icaie-issues-new-policy-brief-on-the-growing-harms-of-cross-border-illicit-trade-vectors-and-threat-convergence-to-canadas-national-security-urgent-attention-and-action-are-needed/
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2 https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/mli-files/pdf/MLICommentary_May2018_Leuprecht_Fweb.pdf
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SOURCE JTI-Macdonald Corp.