During the visit of its delegation to the Regie today, Tuesday, The Global Container Control Program established by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) confirmed its intent to reinforce its support to Lebanon “to end the smuggling of tobacco products to and from the country.” The Regie’s President and Director General, Eng. Nassif Seklaoui hoped to establish “a joint mechanism to reunite in confronting” this phenomenon, stressing that “the Lebanese are entitled to every penny that smugglers, pirates, and counterfeiters steal from them”, revealing that the Regie has been able, “with the security, military, and customs services” to seize “around 15 tons of smuggled tobacco products” since the beginning of this year.
A delegation of the Lebanese customs and the Global Container Control Program visited the headquarters of the Regie today, Tuesday, and was briefed on its achievements, work methods, production facilities, and its efforts in countering tobacco smuggling in Lebanon.
The delegation included the regional coordinator of the program in the MENA Region, Wolfgang Aigner, officials from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, the Office of the Container Control Program in Lebanon, and the Lebanese customs, in addition to the first secretary of the Australian Embassy in Beirut, Ahmad Mayan.
Last June, the Regie had participated in a training course on combating cigarette and tobacco smuggling organized in Beirut by the Container Control Program.
Seklaoui
In his address, Seklaoui said that the Regie meets with the Lebanese customs and the Global Container Control Program “on a common goal, which is to eliminate illegal trade”. He considered that “the continuity of his organization despite the changes, the unstable conditions, and the crises” is “an achievement in itself”. He added: “we have preserved our human resources and our support to national treasury, in addition to the support of farmers”.
He continued: “Despite all challenges, we continued to fight smuggling. The more it increased, the greater our determination to eliminate it with all means. Our first and constant concern has been to deprive those involved in smuggling activities of any safe haven, hence we have put combating their criminal activities at the top of our plan for sustainable development, and we have made every possible effort to reduce smuggling, through the monitoring stamp and systems for tracking tobacco products throughout the supply chain from manufacturing to sale, even by strengthening the Regie corps for combatting smuggling of counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes, which is responsible for monitoring the market throughout the Lebanese territory and confiscating smuggled products. He stated that the Regie has been able “with the security, military, and customs services, to confiscate about 15 tons of smuggled tobacco since 1-1-2022”.
He said: “Perhaps each of us alone is uncapable, but together we can do a lot. This is what we believe in, and this is what urged us, even in 2018, to sound the alarm. We were the first to take the initiative and lay the foundation stone for the first national conference to fight illegal trade, which brought together all parties concerned with the issue of combating smuggling. It included more than 600 participants from more than 20 Arab and foreign countries (...). Not only we have organized this gathering conference, but we also have shared its decisions and recommendations with the three presidents representing the highest Lebanese authorities in order to reach a road map for controlling the land and sea crossing boarders and enforcing criminal penalties against counterfeiting and smuggling networks”.
He added: “in light of the worsening crises we are currently witnessing, perhaps we are constrained to sound the alarm again”, hoping that the delegation's visit to the Regie headquarters would contribute to strengthening its cooperation with customs and the container program and setting up a “joint mechanism for solidarity and confrontation, each from their position, whether by sharing information, exchanging experiences, or intensifying training in the field of fighting smuggling and counterfeiting”.
He concluded: “Today more than ever, our economy requires its resources, even us, as Lebanese citizens, whether we are civilians or military, we are more deserving of every penny stolen by smugglers, pirates, and counterfeiters”.
Aigner
As for Aigner, he expressed his satisfaction with the visit, explaining that it aims to “increase cooperation with the Regie”. He recalled that “the program was launched in 2004 as a joint initiative between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Customs Organization to help governments establishing and sustaining effective control over containers in seaports, dry ports, land borders, railways, and airports, in order to prevent trafficking in drugs, weapons, and dual-use and counterfeit goods”. He added: “the aim of this visit is that the members of our unit can better support Lebanon to stop tobacco product smuggling to and from Lebanon”, noting that “Australia has become a destination market for such trade due to the tobacco high prices”.
He confirmed that the visit “is only the beginning of a journey” between the program and its Lebanese and Australian partners and announced that “specialized training on combating tobacco smuggling will be held during May 2023 with experts from Europol”.
Ahmad Mayan
First Secretary of the Australian Embassy in Beirut, Ahmed Mayan, praised the “Regie’s leading role in fighting smuggling”, expressing his satisfaction with the fruitful cooperation in this field between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Container Control Program, and the “tremendous efforts despite the crises and Covid pandemic”.
He affirmed the embassy's determination to cooperate with the Regie and all concerned parties “to combat organized crime organizations that smuggle tobacco” to Australia, given the large revenues it brings. He revealed that “smuggled shipments from the Middle East to Australia have increased in recent years”, noting that they are even arriving by plane, while smuggling had been mostly by sea.