Twenty anonymized submissions to the government’s T&T consultation were released exclusively to betterRetailing by HMRC. In the initial legislation draft, a store had to make three breaches of T&T in 12 months to lose the codes required to purchase and sell tobacco.
Several manufacturers called for the time period to be extended, claiming a lack of resources would prevent any retailer from being caught three times in a year. “Even in very active trading standards departments, three seizures in 12 months will never occur,” wrote one manufacturer. Following the comments, the time period was doubled to two years.
HMRC is also considering further punishments and potentially criminal convictions for non-compliant stores. One industry player said it was ‘comforted’ by “assurances from HMRC in recent meetings that elements of the regulations relating to sanctions and enforcement will be revisited and enhanced by the end of the transition phase in May 2020”.
Conversely, British American Tobacco (BAT) described the three-strike ban as ‘disproportionate’ and lobbied for changes that would make it easier for illicit sellers to continue selling tobacco. BAT unsuccessfully asked the government to remove bans on those with unspent convictions for Customs and Excise acts offenses, and those fined more than GBP10,000 (US$12,160) for Customs and Excise breaches, from buying or selling tobacco.