BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO DONATES TO CEPS (P.30) 04/12/07

Story: Kofi Yeboah
BRITISH American Tabacco (BAT) has donated 12 jungle motorbikes to the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to support the service’s efforts at controlling the country’s borders.
The donation is in line with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed recently between BAT and CEPS to fight counterfeiting and illicit trade in tobacco products and other goods smuggled into the country.
The Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Manager (West and Central Africa) of BAT, Mr Don Ayao Dussey, presented the keys of the motorbikes to the Commissioner of CEPS, Mr Emmanuel Doku at a short ceremony in Accra on Wednesday.
Mr Dussey underlined the commitment of BAT to help improve the capacity of its partners in the process of eliminating illicit trade, adding, “we shall continue to support these efforts in the future”.
He said illicit trade was a criminal activity that seriously undermined the efforts of genuine entrepreneurs who aimed at building a sustainable future for the country’s economy.
According to Mr Dussey, latest estimates indicated that six per cent of the global consumption of tobacco products (equivalent to $20 billion) was held by illicit trade and declared the determination of BAT to combat contraband and counterfeiting in all countries it operated in.
“In Ghana, we are delighted to notice that with the combined effort of CEPS and all concerned parties, the illicit trade in tobacco products has significantly decreased”, he observed.
For his part, Mr Doku thanked BAT for the gesture and expressed satisfaction that the MOU signed between the two parties was yielding positive results.
“We are on the right path towards fighting illicit trade and counterfeiting”, he remarked.