From Retail Express...
The first counterfeit plain packs of tobacco in the UK have been uncovered by Retail Express and trading standards departments.
Following a tip-off, Retail Express was sold a plain pack counterfeit of a premium brand by a London newsagent for £10.50. The retailer took a legitimate pack out of the gantry and swapped it out with a fake pack, while processing the card transaction.
Doug Love, Hammersmith and Fulham Trading Standards officer warned: “The quality of the counterfeits is so good, unless you know what you are looking for it is incredibly difficult to spot.”
Evidence suggests the quality and prices of the plain pack counterfeits is creating a two-tier illicit trade, with cheap smuggled and counterfeit non-plain packs, and the new plain format illicit packs often passed through at RRP.
The article mentions that the first counterfeit plain packs were uncovered by Trading Standards in July, a mere two months after the new regulations came into full effect. They were found in the north-west and are now 'heading south'.
If organised criminals want their products on the shop shelves, they've got to be in plain packs otherwise nobody's going to buy them at full price. The great thing about plain packaging - from their perspective - is that they only need to counterfeit one pack. After that, they just need to change the name on the front (all brand names have to be displayed in the same simple font by law) and they've got a full range of brands to sell. Happy days!
Another big 'public health' win. Well done to everybody involved.
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