I READ the article ‘Three shop owners have been fined more than £2,500 after being caught selling illegal cigarettes’ (Echo, May 18) with interest.
Members of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents 5,500 independent forecourts, are increasingly concerned about the amount of illicit tobacco on our streets and the direct impact it has on their businesses.
A survey carried out of PRA members last month has shown that 73 per cent believe that illicit trade hurts their business and decreases their annual sales revenue with almost two thirds believing that the problem is getting worse.
Retailers are also increasingly opposed to Government proposals to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products and think it will harm honest retailers because it will fuel illicit trade and people will buy their cigarettes from the black market.
Brian Madderson, Chairman, Petrol Retailers Association.
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