Retailers raise concern over smuggling

A cross-border survey conducted by Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has revealed that one in three retailers in the border counties are concerned about the rise in criminality and illicit trade post Brexit.

A survey was carried out of 114 retailers in the counties of Louth, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo, along with 101 additional retailers across Northern Ireland.

The results showed that of those surveyed in the county, 66% of retailers feel Brexit will create a bigger market for smuggling in the county, while just under half have noticed a significant increase in smuggled products and illicit trade in recent years. A further 44% of retailers in all the border counties have declared the same, along with over half of their Northern Ireland counterpart.

One-third of all retailers surveyed believe that Brexit will lead to a further presence of the black-market along the border and significant losses to the Exchequer, as well as their own businesses.

RAS spokesperson and small business owner, Benny Gilsenan said ‘When a customer doesn’t buy their cigarettes in my shop, that means they’re not buying their pint of milk, they’re not buying their sliced pan. It has a huge knock on effect on small businesses.’

He added that retailers on both sides of the border can no longer compete with the illicit trade of smuggled products.

‘In terms of illicit trade, cigarettes and loose tobacco are by far the most urgent concern for retailers. A packet of cigarettes bought on the street costs the consumer less than half price of what they would pay in a shop. A legitimate retailer selling a packet of cigarettes for €11.50 simply cannot compete with a smuggled pack that costs just €5.’

According to Revenue’s Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2016, 10% of cigarette packs in Ireland are classified as illegal and a further 8% are Non-Irish Duty Paid. In a report released by Grant Thornton in 2015 found that a key driving force for the illicit trading of tobacco and alcohol is the continuously increasing level of excise duty on products. Half of all Irish retailers surveyed believe that the key to undermining cross-border smuggling of tobacco and alcohol is to harmonize tax and price differentials between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The survey also revealed a shocking lack of trust in authorities both north and south of the border, with only 13% of those surveyed having confidence in the ability of authorities to tackle smuggling.

There is a massive disparity between alcohol seizures and summary convictions in Ireland.

In 2016 there were 1,875 seizures of illicit alcohol in the country, but only four summary convictions.

Border retailers indicated in the survey that they would like to see the purchasing of illicit goods to be made an offence.