Retailers Against Smuggling launch new awareness campaign
RAS members will display posters in shop windows to show the human face of those affected by smuggling
Print2 June 2017
Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has launched its ‘Smuggling Matters to Me’ campaign, in order to give a voice to the thousands of retailers affected by illicit trade in cigarettes and other products. The campaign centres around a poster which shows small and medium-sized Irish retailers talking about their experience of a problem that showed 742 million cigarettes were bought illegally or brought from abroad last year alone.
The campaign highlights the impact that illicit trade is having on small retailers nationwide, and its knock-on effects.
Benny Gilsenan, RAS spokesperson, says the group wants to give a voice to shopkeepers around the country. “These individuals are having their business undermined by smuggled tobacco, alcohol and solid fuel,” he says. “Retailers face an uncertain future with Brexit looming, so the government needs to provide more resources to Revenue to stop the flow of illicit goods into Ireland and her local communities.”
RAS has arranged for posters to be displayed in its members’ shop windows, in order to tell the stories of individual retailers and show the human face of those affected by smuggling. RAS hopes the campaign will put pressure on government to increase the resources available to combat illicit trade in Ireland.
‘Smuggling matters to me’ is designed to not only show what is happening to shopkeepers, but also to understand how illicit trade is affecting our local communities. Anyone with any knowledge of smuggling activities should call Revenue, confidentially, on 1800 295 295.
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