Tobacco co underscores need for implementing track-and-trace system across entire industry

ISLAMABAD: A national tobacco company, which has implemented Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) track and trace system, has insisted that all local tobacco manufacturers should implement track and trace to provide a level playing field for all manufacturers.

Talking to media here on Friday, Samera Irfan, the CEO of Khyber Tobacco Company informed that it is in the interest of the tobacco industry that the Track and Trace system shall be implemented flawlessly in the country to control counterfeiting and the Federal Excise Duty (FED) evasion in the country.

Irfan welcomed the recent announcement by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to expedite Track and Trace installation in all cigarette factories within two weeks.

She stated that this is the best and most efficient way to stop counterfeit products and FED evasion. Khyber Tobacco is the first ever national tobacco company to have already implemented Track and Trace across its sales and production.

However, Irfan also commented on the poor implementation of orders on the ground level, stating, these steps including Track and Trace and FED are inevitable to increase tax collection from the tobacco sector. However, what is required is the implementation of these orders by the administrators in a true sense.

High-level meeting in Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed that the automatic Track and Trace system be installed in all cigarette factories within two weeks. He emphasized that law enforcement agencies should provide all possible support to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to prevent the smuggling and sale of illegal cigarettes. The Prime Minister also expressed concern over cross-border cigarette smuggling and directed the posting of officers with a good reputation at border crossings.

Irfan also requested the government to improve border controls to discourage non-duty paid smuggled cigarettes, especially at the border with Azad Jammu Kashmir, which is the most popular point of cross-border cigarette smuggling.

Chairman FBR Asim Ahmad has already informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance that the FBR made 811 seizures in which 61 million sticks of smuggled cigarettes were seized during 2022-23.

Irfan insisted that all tobacco manufacturers should implement Track and Trace, not just Khyber Tobacco. Track and Trace is a system used to monitor and track the movement of goods, products, or people throughout a supply chain or transportation process, utilizing technologies such as barcodes, RFID tags, GPS tracking, and other types of sensors to collect data.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023