RFID Halts Cigarette Smuggling For Brits Posted by RFIDiva on May 13, 2011 · 8 Comments

The U.K. government is sick of losing $7 billion in tax dollars every year due to the illegal cigarette trade. In order to avoid this problem in the future they are testing out a plan that implements RFID technology.

The plan calls for every cigarette pack to have an RFID chip attached to it, so that when people pass through Customs, the Customs officials will have hand-held RFID readers that will be able to detect whether or not that person is carrying counterfeit cigarettes, and if taxes have been paid for those cigarettes. If those cigarettes aren’t kosher, that person will face fines and/or charges.

According to The UK’s Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association, 3% of cigarettes smoked in Britain are counterfeit – that may not sound like a lot, but it equals to about $2 billion dollars a year, which contributes to the $7 billion mentioned earlier, as well as the tobacco industry itself losing about $800 million dollars a year due to this.

People may not feel so bad for the people in the tobacco industry, considering they are multi multi millionaires- but there are also thousands of people at the lower level of the industry who lose their jobs over this, which is unfair because it is really not their fault. The project is underway, so when there are any updates I’ll be sure to keep you posted.