Container Declared as Printing Machine Held 4.08 Million Fake Cigarette Stamps

A container brought in with a declaration of importing a printing machine was found to contain a large quantity of cosmetics and 4.08 million fake cigarette stamps. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) said the seizure foiled an attempt to evade about 46 crore taka in revenue.

The information was given in an NBR press release on Sunday.

The NBR said the consignment was identified in a joint operation by the board's Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) and the AIR branch of Chattogram Custom House.

The consignment was imported by a firm named China Mart, located at Level-3, Block-A of Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka. The consignment, which arrived at Chattogram port on 9 August, had declared 'printing machine' as the goods.

On 5 November, officers of the CIC and the AIR branch of Chattogram Custom House examined the consignment in detail. Instead of the declared printing machine, they found a large quantity of cosmetics and fake cigarette stamps. No printing machine was found in the container.

The inspection recovered 4.08 million fake cigarette stamps. The stamps were suitable for use on low-tier packs of 20 cigarettes.

The fixed retail price of such a pack of cigarettes in the country is 130 taka, against which the government receives 106 taka 60 paisa in revenue. According to the NBR's calculation, if the recovered fake stamps had been used to produce and market cigarettes illegally, the government would have lost about 43 crore 50 lakh taka in revenue.

In addition, revenue evasion of about 2 crore 50 lakh taka has been preliminarily assessed against the cosmetics found in the container. Altogether, the possible revenue loss and evasion amounts to about 46 crore taka.

The release said that producing and marketing cigarettes illegally using fake stamps deprives the government of huge revenue. At the same time, legitimate tobacco manufacturers and marketers face unfair competition.

The NBR said the process of taking legal action against those involved in the incident is under way. The board also said intelligence surveillance will continue to prevent false declarations in import-export trade, duty and tax evasion, and the marketing of illegal goods.