KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 5): Some 97% of Malaysians want the government to act against the tobacco black market, according to a nationwide survey conducted by British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT Malaysia).

In a statement Aug 4, BAT Malaysia said key findings of the Stop the Black Market campaign included:

• 88% of Malaysians believe that the tobacco black market is impeding the nation’s Covid-19 economic recovery
• top three factors sustaining the tobacco black market are corruption (38%), high excise duties (27%) and insufficient resources for enforcement agencies to tackle the issue (19%)
• Malaysians believe that reducing the price differential between legal and black market products (35%) and greater collaboration between law enforcement agencies (29%) are key in countering the tobacco black market.

BAT Malaysia managing director Jonathan Reed said since the campaign went live on July 6, 2020, the campaign website has had more than 30,000 unique visits.

“From the feedback we received, Malaysians are very concerned about the tobacco black market and support immediate government action to clamp down on the criminal syndicates operating within this space. This support from Malaysians stems from the desire to see the economy recovering post Covid-19.

“The nationwide survey commissioned by BAT Malaysia in July 2020 consisted of an online survey of over 2,000 Malaysian adults,” he said.