CAIRO – Egyptian smokers are gladly buying and stockpiling cheap China-made cigarettes because of a record tobacco smuggling rise in the country. Retailers in the downtown Cairo area of Fagallah are making the most of the buying frenzy as the illicit trade has flourished across the capital since the Essam Sharaf Government raised cigarette tax last August. "Have you finished stocking up Chinese cigarettes?" a street vendor yells at the passers-by in a Fagallah back-street that has become an open-air market for smuggled cigarettes in Cairo, which is considered a smokers' haven. The city, which welcomes smoking in restaurants and coffee shops, has entirely failed to enforce a two-year-old law banning it in Government buildings and closed areas. "We are witnessing a rush, especially after the safe arrival of thousands and thousands of cartons of Chinese cigarettes," Battah, a street vendor, told The Egyptian Gazette without giving sales figures. "Each shop in the street, which used to sell candies and cheap toys, has switched to selling these Chinese cigarettes, which are liked by Egyptian smokers because they are cheaper and better than Cleopatra," Battah, Arabic for duck, said. He emphasised that trade in smuggled Chinese cigarettes is flourishing in Egypt. "As far as I know, the Chinese cigarettes are smuggled into the country via an unknown courier company. Thousands of cartons of cigarettes are usually hidden in items of furniture that arrive in Suez, or Alexandria seaports," Adel,Battah's partner, said. He said that the transfer of these Chinese cigarettes has been rife since the Government raised the price of local cigarettes last summer. This trade is worth serious attention because millions of smuggled cigarettes are sold to minors, who are encouraged to smoke because the prices are cheap. It is estimated that the smuggled cigarettes purchased in Cairo are contraband, whereas a locally made pack of cigarettes, like Cleopatra, would cost about LE6.5. One that has been smuggled into the country from China will be sold for about LE5. It is strongly believed that these smuggled cigarettes are made from inferior contents and can be even more damaging to smokers' health. These cigarettes, which usually reach Egypt from China via Dubai, are hidden among other merchandise in shipping containers that dock in Suez, or Alexandria. Battah said that since on paper these shipments are perfectly legal, the vessels cannot be stopped and searched at sea. Sometimes cigarettes manufactured in China, or east European countries are bought tax-free loaded onto foreign vessels and then unloaded at Egyptian ports and finally sold, illegally, here in Cairo. "There is a rush for buying and stockpiling these cigarettes because they are quite cheap,” Battah said. Last summer, the Government has authorised the Eastern Tobacco Company (ETC), which dominates the country's cigarette market, to raise the prices of cigarettes by around two or three pounds per pack of 20. The price of the popular brand of Cleopatra box rose from LE4 to LE6.5 per pack. The Government reportedly hopes to eventually raise the prices to around LE8 a pack, close to levels in Europe and North America. The move is aimed at offsetting an increase in the tobacco tax by a record 50 piastres per cigarette, or LE10 per pack, a move proposed by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to discourage smoking. Thousands of Egyptians are estimated to die from lung cancer or heart disease caused by smoking annually in Egypt. But the cheap prices of these Chinese cigarettes encourages large-scale buying instead of dissuading smokers. Battah confirmed that cigarette sales had almost doubled since September. Hamada, a university student who smokes two packs a day, said he had stashed 30 packs of these smuggled cigarettes and paid LE90 for them. He said he wouldn't stop smoking because a pack of smuggled cigarettes is sold for LE3 in Fagallah, whereas he used to pay LE6.5 for a Cleopatra pack. "I will expand my stock in advance to last my lifetime and keep it all in the refrigerator," he said. In the meantime, anti-smoking campaigners must step up their battle to persuade Egyptian youth to kick the bad habit. Egypt, the Arab world's biggest country with almost 83.5 million people, has more than 15 million smokers, the majority of them are young people. Each year, there is a noticeable increase in the number of smokers. Many Egyptians, who spend about LE16 billion ($1.5 billion) a year on tobacco, see smoking as a relief from the daily grind. The Ministry of Health is urged to launch the largest ever anti-smoking awareness campaign, which should include fresh and constructive ideas to discourage young people from smoking.
