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Original research
Evaluating compliance with track and trace and other regulations in Pakistan’s cigarette market
  1. Estelle Dauchy1,
  2. Amina Khan2,
  3. Saeed Ansaari2,
  4. Hana Ross1
  1. 1School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa
  2. 2Research, The Initiative, Islamabad, Pakistan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Estelle Dauchy; estelle.dauchy{at}uct.ac.za

Abstract

Background To control the illicit cigarette market, the government of Pakistan adopted a Tracking and Tracing System (TTS) that was fully operational by July 2022, despite many roadblocks. By this date, major tobacco companies had either registered their brands with the tax authority and/or installed TTS.

Methods This paper is the first to evaluate the degree of compliance with the TTS by evaluating the extent and nature of illicit trade in tobacco products. We use randomised sampling to collect cigarette packs from waste recycling stores located in the ten most populous cities of Pakistan, to evaluate illicit trade penetration.

Results and policy implications Almost a third of the packs collected did not bear a tax stamp, mostly due to the lack of compliance by local companies, confirming a recent review of the TTS implementation by the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR). Even the largest companies that ostensibly adopted the TTS did not fully comply with the system, signalling poor enforcement. This is a missed opportunity, since a well-functioning TTS combined with proper enforcement is an effective means of controlling illicit tobacco trade, boosting tax revenue and improving public health. However, the enforcement should not be limited to the TTS since 23.6% of packs did not comply with other regulatory requirements.

  • illegal tobacco products
  • taxation
  • tobacco industry

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. N/A.

https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2024-058756

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request. N/A.

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    Footnotes

    • X @aminakhan67

    • Presented at International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF), August 21-23, 2024, Prague, Czech Republic.

    • Collaborators N/A.

    • Contributors EPD acted as guarantor. The conception of the project was done by all authors. The data collection was entirely performed by SA and AK of The Initiative, Pakistan. The data analysis was performed by SA and EPM, with the help of AK. All authors contributed equally to the write up of this paper.

    • Funding This project has been funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

    • Competing interests No, there are no competing interests.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.