Post by samiros » Fri Apr 19, 2019 1:04 pm

The French Ministry of Public Service and Accounting revealed a huge scheme involving the French, Italian and Algerian customs meant to halt the illegal trade of cigarettes in the Mediterranean, especially from Algeria to France via sea transport and air flights, as well as setting up a risk analysis center in Algeria to check this nefarious smuggling phenomenon.In response to the French Ministry of Public Service and Accountability, the French National Assembly (Parliament) advocated stringent measures to be taken to curb illegal trade of cigarettes from Algeria , and this has led to a complete reorganization of French customs services.According to the same document, the reorganization of customs to counter the risk of cigarette smuggling coming from Algeria, between 2013 and 2019 is imperative as the smuggled quantities increased of up to 49 percent, while the brands hiked by about 41 percent.According to the Ministry of Service and Public Accounts, the French customs service has been able to bust several networks involved in the smuggling of cigarettes from Algeria to France, without giving figures on the relevant smuggled quantities.The French Ministry also announced a joint action plan in coordination with the European Commission, the General Directorate of French Customs and the Italian Customs, in addition to the Algerian Customs, to implement a twinning project, so as to establish a risk analysis center in Algeria within a time-frame of two years as part of an overall strategy to fight against the smuggling of cigarettes from Algeria to France.Cigarette trade from Algeria to France is very popular, given the low cost of the cartridge, which is sold in France at twice the price. For example, the price of a smuggled “Marlboro” cartridge smuggled from Algeria to France ranges from 35 to 40 Euros in Paris’s famous Barbès district.