Pakistan loses Rs350bn annually to illicit cigarette trade: Philip Morris International tells minister

Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan held a detailed meeting with a delegation led by Marco Mariotti, President, CIS & Central Asia, Philip Morris International, to discuss key challenges facing Pakistan’s tobacco sector, including illicit trade, regulatory gaps, and export potential, according to an official statement on Thursday. During the meeting, the delegation briefed the minister on the growing scale of illicit cigarette trade in Pakistan, noting that a significant portion of the market remains undocumented, resulting in an estimated annual revenue loss of around Rs350 billion, i.e. USD1.25 billion. It was highlighted that nearly 45 to 47 billion cigarettes are being sold without payment of taxes, creating an uneven playing field for the formal sector.