Combatting the trade in illicit tobacco products of any description is a tremendous effort in terms of human resources, financial commitment and organization. Like all its competitors, Philip Morris International has “a strong and vested interest in seeing the illegal tobacco trade eradicated,” according to Richard Clemente.
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PMI IMPACT - A Global Initiative Against Illicit Trade
The company invests significant resources to ensure strong controls in the supply chain, raise awareness of the dangers of illicit trade, enhance knowledge of the issue, develop possible solutions, as well as support the authorities in tracking down, confiscating, and destroying illegal products.
“We have invested $150 million in pack authentication, have trained over 11,000 law enforcement officers and employ more than 100 full-time staff dedicated to combatting illicit trade. We’re also investing in ongoing research and make our findings readily available to governments and other entities like Interpol and the World Customs Organization,” Clemente said.
Furthermore, since the early 2000s, PMI has also made large-scale investments to guarantee the authenticity of its products in over 600 manufacturing lines located in 50 factories and in 700 supply chain locations across the globe, relying on interoperable technology that enables the constant product movement monitoring in more than 120 countries.