Tobacco industry commissioned reports on illicit tobacco trade in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: how accurate are they?

Industry-funded studies of the illicit tobacco trade have been found to consistently fail to meet the standards of quality and transparency expected of peer-reviewed research. [...]the scale of the problem would appear exaggerated in order to aid the industry's efforts to oppose tobacco controls by arguing that such measures would actually increase illicit trade. Tobacco companies regularly cite industry-funded reports about the illicit trade [yet fail to acknowledge the funding link, as seen in a recent Philip Morris International (PMI) interview (8)] as part of their efforts to oppose public health policy (9). Despite the report's title referring to the Levant region, only three countries within this geographical area are featured in the analysis and no justification is provided for why other countries were left out. Since Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon have all experienced tax increases in recent years, these countries may have been chosen to help illustrate the industry narrative that increased taxes lead to increased illicit tobacco trade. Evidence indicates16 that this depiction of the relationship between tax and illicit trade is over-simplified as countries with low cigarette taxes and prices often have larger illicit cigarette markets than countries with higher taxes and prices (17). [...]the report, data and estimates would appear unreliable and highlights the urgent need for independent research on the illicit tobacco trade.