ASEAN, Australia launch project to tackle illicit tobacco
ASEAN and Australia established the ASEAN-Australia Task Force on Illicit Tobacco (Project Portcullis 2021) last month to combat the smuggling of illicit tobacco in a month of action.
Jakarta (VNA) - ASEAN and Australia established the ASEAN-AustraliaTask Force on Illicit Tobacco (Project Portcullis 2021) last month to combatthe smuggling of illicit tobacco in a month of action.
Throughout June, participating customs authorities shared intelligenceinformation on tobacco consignments to support enhanced targetingopportunities, disruption efforts and enforcement actions across ASEAN andAustralia.
The smuggling and sale of illicit tobacco is a global issue, with proceedsoften being used by transnational organised criminal syndicates to fund otherforms of criminal activities.
The collaboration has enabled customs authorities to apply scrutiny to an increasedvolume of suspicious sea cargo and land border consignments via the ‘AlertNotification System’ designed by ASEAN Customs Enforcement and ComplianceWorking Group (CECWG).
Project Portcullis, which was initiated by the CECWG, has proven to be highlyeffective, with more than 50 pieces of information shared, and 19 millionsticks of cigarettes seized.
The ASEAN Directors-General of Customs is committed to combatting transnationalorganised crime, and will apply similar techniques utilising the CECWG TaskForce mechanism to disrupt border-related threats.
Australia, as one of ASEAN’s dialogue partners, will continue to workcooperatively with ASEAN to implement effective countermeasures to preventorganised crime in the region./.
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Illustrative image (Source: guengl.eu) 
