Nearly 70% of independent retailers do not think the government is doing enough to tackle tobacco and alcohol smuggling.
In a survey carried out by The Grocer, more than one-third of independent retailers questioned knew of people in their area selling smuggled goods.
Nearly three-quarters think their sales of tobacco and alcohol are adversely affected by smuggling, with 18% saying they are not.
Of those that believe sales are affected, 42% say the problem has grown worse in the past 12 months, with 16% saying it has got better. Despite a promising start, the introduction of the UK duty paid mark on cigarette and tobacco packs in April 2001 has had little effect on sales, with 64% of independents saying there had been no increase in sales since its introduction, and one-fifth saying they had seen an increase in sales.
At the beginning of last year some retailers were heralding the duty paid mark a success, with Scottish Spar retailer and wholesaler CJ Lang saying in March it had seen a 9.1% rise in tobacco sales since its introduction.
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In a survey carried out by The Grocer, more than one-third of independent retailers questioned knew of people in their area selling smuggled goods.
Nearly three-quarters think their sales of tobacco and alcohol are adversely affected by smuggling, with 18% saying they are not.
Of those that believe sales are affected, 42% say the problem has grown worse in the past 12 months, with 16% saying it has got better. Despite a promising start, the introduction of the UK duty paid mark on cigarette and tobacco packs in April 2001 has had little effect on sales, with 64% of independents saying there had been no increase in sales since its introduction, and one-fifth saying they had seen an increase in sales.
At the beginning of last year some retailers were heralding the duty paid mark a success, with Scottish Spar retailer and wholesaler CJ Lang saying in March it had seen a 9.1% rise in tobacco sales since its introduction.
>>p18 full results
{{NEWS }}
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