The recent anti-smuggling operations by customs have drastically reduced supply of counterfeit foreign brand cigarettes in Pakistan's markets.
Sources in the CBR said on Tuesday that legitimate cigarette makers had reported to CBR's excise and customs wings about the selling of smuggled brands in some posh areas of federal capital.
Promptly acting on the complaint, the CBR not only launched a countywide crackdown against smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes but also intensified checking at the international borders with China, Afghanistan and Iran.
This helped the government to control annual loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer.
Last quarterly review of CBR has shown extraordinary growth in collection of domestic general sales tax (GST) levied on major commodities. A healthy trend in domestic GST collection has been witnessed in sugar, cotton, cigarettes, cement, fertilisers, telephone and tele fax services, electrical energy and other products.
Over 60 percent of gross collection is generated by ten major revenue items, including cigarettes.
Sources said that many shopkeepers and kiosk owners have abandoned sale of smuggled and counterfeit foreign brands cigarettes following strict action against black marketers.
The government is also working on a plan to put an end to availability of smuggled counterfeit cigarettes in the country.
The government has taken well-directed action against the suppliers of the smuggled foreign cigarettes brands by initiating raids in some major cities of the country like Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi.
The fear of arrest and subsequent punitive legal action have forced many associated with this illicit business into hiding.
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