Illicit cigarette trade: Philip Morris urges authorities to take targeted steps

ISLAMABAD: Philip Morris (Pakistan) Limited (PMPKL) has urged authorities to take targeted enforcement measures at the retail and distribution levels to curb the growing illicit cigarette trade, which continues to drain Pakistan’s economy and undermine legal businesses.

Speaking to a group of journalists, Khurram Qamar, Director External Affairs at PMPKL, said that illegal cigarettes now account for more than 57 percent of Pakistan’s cigarette market, creating an uneven playing field that severely disadvantages compliant manufacturers while eroding the integrity of the industry.

Khurram emphasized on how enforcement needs to be carried out in a focused manner for it to have a lasting impact. Conducting multiple raids in spread out areas leaves illicit manufacturers unaffected. Instead, the need of the hour is for enforcement to be targeted to selected areas and retailers.

“Enforcement carried out in this manner would lead to illicit being eradicated from these areas and would have a greater impact on not just the retailers who sell illicit but the manufacturers as well,” explained Khurram.

He stressed upon the need for raids to be amplified so that retailers across the country understand the repercussions on stocking and retailing illicit cigarettes.

Khurram pointed how “the sale of illicit cigarettes has become normalised where retailers have no reservations in stocking cigarettes without graphical health warning and Track & Trace – this normalization of a criminal activity and violation needs to be curtailed.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025