The EU Commission is commissioning an external study to identify/develop a uniform, neutral approach to measuring the illicit market in tobacco products in Member States and the EU. The study should provide a tool to measure the illicit tobacco market in individual Member States and for the EU as a whole. The study should also include considerations on how to measure trade in tobacco products i.e. the flow of such products into, around and out of the EU.

Illicit trade in cigarettes and other tobacco products is a global phenomenon which, in the EU alone, results in an annual loss of more than 10 000 000 000 EUR in public revenue. The 2013 Communication from the EU Commission “Stepping up the fight against cigarette smuggling and other forms of illicit trade in tobacco products — A comprehensive EU Strategy" identified a number of actions to be taken to curb the illicit trade in tobacco products, including improving the measurement of the illicit tobacco trade.

In this context the EU Commission is commissioning an external study to identify/develop a uniform, neutral approach to measuring the illicit market in tobacco products in Member States and the EU. The study should provide a tool to measure the illicit tobacco market in individual Member States and for the EU as a whole. The study should also include considerations on how to measure trade in tobacco products i.e. the flow of such products into, around and out of the EU.