RIAU - Batam Customs and Excise Officials in the Riau Archipelago destroyed 66,783,493 illegal cigarettes of various brands without excise stamps worth Rp. 67.92 billion.
"The estimated value of the destroyed goods is IDR 67.92 billion with a potential state loss of IDR 43.40 billion," said Head of the Batam Customs Main Service Office Ambang Priyonggo in Batam, Antara, Wednesday, December 29.
A total of 66.78 million illegal cigarettes were destroyed as a result of excise operations including the Illegal Cigarette Combat Operation for the period from 2020 to 2021. Cigarettes destroyed were illegal, because they were not attached with excise stamps or affixed with other excise payment signs.
He said the extermination activity was a follow-up to the Batam Customs' commitment to suppress the circulation of illegal cigarettes.
The excise operation, he continued, is also to prevent unfair business competition between legal producers and illegal producers so that the sustainability of the legal tobacco products industry is not disrupted.
The excise operation which started in 2017 is expected to have a deterrent effect for retailers, so that they will then sell cigarettes according to regulations.
He also hopes that there will be a decrease in the supply of illegal cigarettes, while increasing the demand for legal cigarettes.
"The circulation of illegal cigarettes can also affect tobacco excise tax revenues which in the end will also have an impact on state revenues, especially excise revenues, one of which is for the tobacco product excise sharing fund (DBHCHT)," he said.
On that occasion, he also mentioned that the annihilation on that day was also intended to promote "Legal is Easy", the jargon in promoting the government's preventive measures in overcoming the circulation of illegal cigarettes.
"This extermination was carried out based on the Regulation of the Minister of Finance Number 178 of 2019 concerning
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