Hi-tech solution to tackle counterfeit tobacco

Date published: 20/08/2008

Rochdale Borough Council’s Trading Standards team has gone hi-tech in its fight against the sale of counterfeit tobacco.

The team is one of the first in the country to use a new ‘tobacco reader’, developed by the tobacco industry to identify packs of counterfeit cigarettes and hand rolled tobacco.

The reader is a hand-held device that can be easily transported by Trading Standards Officers when carrying out their enforcement duties.

All packs manufactured on or after 1 October 2007 by the four largest tobacco companies, which represent 97% of the UK duty paid market, now have an anti-counterfeit mark incorporated into the pack. Hand-rolling tobacco packs will be similarly marked from October 2008. The reader detects the mark and identifies if the product is genuine.

Cabinet member for Community Safety, Councillor Ted Flynn said: “Any form of counterfeiting is not only illegal, but often linked to other crime. Fake tobacco products may also have a detrimental effect on people’s health over and above that caused by genuine cigarettes and other tobacco products. This new reading device is a fantastic way to stop dodgy traders in their tracks.”

Chief Trading Standards Officer, Andy Glover said: “Counterfeit tobacco isn’t a massive problem in the borough – mainly because we take immediate action against anyone caught flouting the law. That said, it is something that we like to keep a close eye on and this new device is a simple and effective checking mechanism that gives us immediate results.”