The VSRF represents the interests of Swiss manufacturers and importers of pipe tobacco, cigars, cigarillos and other smoking tobacco products. The membership includes Burger/Dannemann AG and Villiger, two family-owned and traditional maufacturers.
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