The European Smoking Tobacco Association was established in 1990 by two national associations: the Verband der deutschen Rauchtabakindustrie (VdR) and De Vereniging Nederlandse Sigaretten- en Kerftabakfabrikanten (VSK). Since its inception, the association has grown to 44 members, including 26 manufacturers, 11 distributors, and 7 national trade associations (NMAs).
There are two categories of membership:
An obvious correlation exists between the highest levels of illegal and non-domestic consumption (e.g. France, UK, Ireland, Poland and Finland) and the highest taxation rates applied to fine-cut toconsbacco, in comparison with cigarettes. The figures clearly show that any alignment of tobacco taxation, regardless of the products’ specificities, will prevent fine-cut tobacco from fulfilling its buffer function, leading to increased illegal trade of cigarettes and driving down government revenues.
Read more about the relationship between tax and illegal trade