British American Tobacco Malaysia - 97% Of Malaysians Wants The Tobacco Black Market To Be Addressed Urgently

Bukit Damansara, 4 August 2020 – British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad (BAT Malaysia) today unveiled the results of a nationwide survey conducted as part of the Company’s STOP THE BLACK MARKET campaign.

Key findings of the survey include:

•  an overwhelming majority (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%);
•  9 out of 10 Malaysians (97%) want the government to take immediate action against the tobacco black market, which contributes to more than RM5 billion losses in uncollected taxes every year; and
•  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.

Jonathan Reed, Managing Director of BAT Malaysia said:

“We welcome the enthusiastic response by Malaysians to our STOP THE BLACK MARKET campaign. Since it went live on 6 July 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.”

“As part of a follow up to the survey, BAT Malaysia will be making public the survey findings and launching a second survey on our campaign website https://stoptheblackmarket.com.my/  providing Malaysians with a channel to further express what can be done to address this issue quickly and comprehensively,” he concluded.

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

ENDS

For more information on British American Tobacco Malaysia’s Stop the Black Market, please visit www.stoptheblackmarket.com.my  or https://www.facebook.com/stoptheblackmarket  .

About British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad

British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad is the leading tobacco company in Malaysia. This strong position is built upon a portfolio of high-quality tobacco products designed to meet diverse consumer preferences. Our portfolio includes world- famous brands like DUNHILL, KENT, PETER STUYVESANT, PALL MALL and ROTHMANS. British American Tobacco Malaysia employs almost 500 employees who are involved in a wide spectrum of disciplines, from generating insights, developing brands and making these available on a national level. In addition, we also set leading edge talent development practices as well as ensure a strong foundation of corporate governance and shareholder relations. The company is part of the British American Tobacco group, which is the world’s most international tobacco group and the second largest stock market listed tobacco group by global market share.