The smuggling of contraband and counterfeit cigarettes creates losses in revenue to the Europe Union of up to $12 Billion (10 Billion Euros).

Contraband cigarettes are legitimate cigarettes that have been smuggled into the country without the payment of taxes. Counterfeit cigarettes are fake cigarettes where no money is paid in taxes or the a legitimate business.

Source:  Associated Press, “EU, BAT cooperate against illegal cigarette trade,” Google News, July 15, 2010.

Officials in the Netherlands reported that in 2009, 0.9 percent of cigarettes smoked in the country were counterfeit, down from 4 percent in 2005. The reason for the drop was attributed to the lack of quality of the counterfeit cigarettes.

Source:  “Dutch clampdown on cigarette smuggling,” Radio Netherlands, May 27, 2010.

30 percent of the cigarettes smoked by high school students in Ontario and Quebec in 2009 were found to be contraband cigarettes.  These cigarettes were either cigarettes that were counterfeit or smuggled into the country without taxes being paid.

In 2008, 26 percent of the cigarettes were contraband.

Source: Canadian Press, “Researchers find teens Ont. and Que. buying more black market cigarettes,” Google News, October 14, 2009.

According to Custom Officials in Malaysia, 36.8 percent of all cigarettes sold in Malaysia are either counterfeit cigarettes or smuggled illegally into the country.

Source: Manjit Kaur, “One out of 3 cigarettes sold in M’sia is smuggled or fake,” The Star, September 8, 2009.

According to a report by KPMG, the following are losses due to counterfeiting that occur in the United Arab Emirates.

• Food and Beverage: $9.5 Million
• Cigarettes: $15.49 Million
• Household Products: $3.4 Million
• Auto Parts: $476.8 Million
• Pharmaceutical Drugs: $1.3 Million
• Cosmetics: $37.7 Million

Total losses to counterfeit goods based on these products: $544.1 Million.

Source: KPMG, “Economic Impact Study : Analyzing Counterfeit Products in the United Arab Emirates,” January 2008, page 10.

North Korea earns an estimated $720 Million dollars a year from the production and selling of counterfeit cigarettes.

Source:  David Rose, “North Korea’s Dollar Store,” Vanity Fair, August 5, 2009.

Chinese authorities seized 8.3 counterfeit cigarettes in 2008.  In the first six months of 2009, authorities seized 2.4 billion counterfeit cigarettes.

Source:  Xinhua, “China seizes 2.4 bln counterfeit cigarettes,” China View, July 17, 2009.

The European Union released its 2008 Counterfeit Seizures numbers.

In all, 178 million counterfeit items were seized by Custom authorities in 2008, up from 79 million in 2007.

44 percent of all products seized were pirated CDs and DVDs.

23 percent were counterfeit cigarettes.

10 percent were counterfeit clothing.

54 percent of all counterfeit goods seized originated from China.  However, a majority of the fake food and drinks seized came from Indonesia, and most fake medicines came from India.

Source:  “EU seizures of fake goods up 125%,” BBC News, July 9, 2009.

Up to 400 billion counterfeit cigarettes are produced in China each year.  In addition, 99 percent of the counterfeit cigarettes found in the United States comes from China.

Source:  Te-Pin Chen, “China’s Marlboro Country,” Slate, June 29, 2009.

The Associated Press reported figures regarding the various cases that American tobacco maker Philip Morris files in court to battle counterfeit cigarettes.  According to the AP, between 2002 and 2009, Philip Morris filed lawsuits in New York against owners of 71 Internet sites, 21 cigarette importers, and 139 retailers of selling counterfeit cigarettes.

Source: Michael Felberbraum, AP, “Philip Morris USA sues over counterfeit Marlboros”, Google News, May 6, 2009.