Of every three cigarettes consumed in Brazil, one is smuggled. Last year alone, 31,5 billion illegal units were sold. For smugglers, the product is the most profitable: it represents more than 65% of criminals' revenue. The most sold brand in the country was reached the Paraguayan Eight, brought by contraband and, therefore, without paying taxes or complying with our health laws. It is produced by Tabacalera Del Este SA (Tabesa), which belongs to the president of Paraguay, Horacio Cartes. “There is a lack of competence in border surveillance and there is an omission by the Paraguayan authorities, who have benefited from cigarette smuggling to Brazil,” says Edson Vismona, ETCO president.
Other segments that suffer a lot from competition from Paraguayan smuggling are computer equipment, electronics, sunglasses and clothing. In all of them, the stimulus to crime is related to the difference between the tax burden of the two countries. Taxes on sunglasses, for example, which in Brazil reach 44% of the final price of the product, in Paraguay are only 10%. In the case of cigarettes, the difference is even greater: there, taxes represent 16% of the amount paid by the consumer, while here this index reaches 71% (see table below).

THE TAX LOAD IN THE TWO COUNTRIES

(*) DVD player

(**) large companies

(***) Computers over R $ 3 thousand