“Instant authentication” benefit means law enforcers will know right away if cigarettes found in a seizure are indeed counterfeit.

In 2006, the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA), a trade association for tobacco companies operating in the UK, estimated that approximately three percent of the 67.5 billion cigarettes smoked in Britain last year were counterfeits. Of the £9.5 billion tobacco duty raised by the UK government every year, this illegal trade is responsible for millions of pounds of losses in tax revenues.

This is about to change. As of October 2007, all cigarettes manufactured for sale in the UK will feature a new level of security technology which will reduce the time taken by law enforcement officials to confirm the counterfeit status of cigarettes at the time of seizure. The new security technology scheme, backed by both the tobacco industry and the UK government, is primarily intended to reduce the sale of counterfeit cigarettes in legitimate retail outlets. Although rare, the TMA shares the concern of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that such incidents could grow.

The scheme calls for all cigarette packs, intended for the UK duty-paid market manufactured from October 1, 2007 and packs of hand-rolled tobacco manufactured from October 2008 to incorporate a covert mark in order to thwart the creation of counterfeit goods with bogus security markings that allow fake products to appear authentic.

Besides this covert marking, special equipment will also be provided to allow HMRC officials to test the authenticity of both cigarette and hand-rolled tobacco packs. This technology, however, will be operational sometime next year, when old stocks of cigarettes without the RFID technology will have passed through the supply chain.

Most of the cost of the new technology scheme is being met by Britain’s four main cigarette manufacturers: Philip Morris International (PMI) and the three TMA members, British American Tobacco (BAT), Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco.

Andy Stanford-Clark, master inventor at IBM, who is familiar with this technology, said, “I would estimate that the cost of implementing the anti-counterfeiting scheme is expected initially to be as high as 10p a packet, although this will probably drop rapidly as the technology enters mass production.”

For security reasons, details surrounding the implementation of the new technology will not be published. Angela Eagle, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said, “Information about the companies currently using the anti-counterfeiting technology cannot be released as this could prejudice law enforcement efforts, the commercial interests of manufacturers and would breach HM Revenue and Customs’ duty of confidentiality towards those companies.”

Furthermore, says Ian Howell, TMA spokesperson, “The fewer people who know what the technology is, the better. Experience has shown a large number of overt features that have been put on tobacco have been replicated to a degree that, to a casual observer, looks genuine.

This new technology is a result of an agreement between the HMRC and the tobacco industry, the goal of which was to create a comprehensive framework of cooperation in combating the smuggling of counterfeit and contraband tobacco products into the UK.

According to TMA chief executive, Tim Lord, “[UK tobacco] companies are committed to combating the smuggling of both genuine and counterfeit tobacco products. They already work closely and share information with HMRC and this agreement reinforces that strong relationship.”