Cigarette prices up from July 2011; Romanian Customs find smuggled cigarettes with trained dogs

Tobacco producer JTI Romania will not see its cigarette prices going up until July next year, as the company is already paying EUR 76.59 per 1,000 cigarettes, although the Fiscal Code currently states an excise of EUR 74. The difference is due to the VAT increase, according to Gilda Lazar, corporate affairs manager with JTI. Romania has recently upped the excises on tobacco from EUR 74 to EUR 76.6 for 1,000 cigarettes, valid as of January 2011. The cigarette excise system will be changed in July next year, which is when the price of cigarettes is expected t grow by RON 0.2 to RON 0.6 a pack, she added. 146 million smuggled cigarettes were confiscated in the first 11 months of the year in Romania, according to the Romanian Customs, and of this amount, JTI brands accounted for around 15 percent, Gilda Lazar told Romania-Insider.com. The number of confiscated cigarettes on the Romanian market grew from 120 million last year. The local authorities have recently received a JTI sponsorship to train dogs which will discover smuggled cigarettes in customs controls. So far, 10 trained dogs have discovered 3 million smuggled cigarettes in 2010 and the number of trained dogs will increase to 30 in the next three years. The JTI sponsorship also includes 30 cars, which used to belong to JTI's sales workforce which had to be laid off, according to Gilda Lazar. So far, ten of these cars have been offered to the Romanian Customs. The investment in a canine unit- made of a dog and a car- is of around EUR 10,000. JTI produces cigarette brands Winston, Camel, Glamour, Benson & Hedges, among others. editor@romania-insider.com