NORTH-west European MP Arlene McCarthy has backed calls to raise the minimum excise duty on cigarettes across the Continent in a bid to beat smuggling.
She said Customs officers seized 201 billion cigarettes last year. It is thought tobacco smuggling has cost the European Union's economy £5 billion in the past five years.
The MP said: "Reducing price differentials could assist in closing down smuggling gangs by lowering their profit margin."
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