Kyrgyzstan undertakes to eliminate illegal trade in tobacco products

Kyrgyzstan intends to join the Protocol on the Elimination of Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products dated November 12, 2012.

The document was developed for five years (from 2008 to 2012) by the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Body.

The Protocol on the Elimination of Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is the first international agreement that regulates the fight against all three forms of illegal trade — smuggling, production and sale of counterfeit products, as well as tax and customs evasion.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are at least six main reasons why Kyrgyzstan should accede to the Protocol, first of all, for the protection of public health from the consequences of tobacco use; protection of vulnerable groups of the population (with a low level of the income) and teenagers-schoolboys, students.

In addition, this will protect the state’s revenues, since taxes and duties are not received from illegal tobacco products to the state budget.

The protocol will ensure security: illegal organizations with complex distribution systems associated with armed terrorist groups are engaged in illegal trade.