Project description
The project will identify tools and desirable changes to effectively combat the illicit trade in tobacco products within the European Union. Research will take into account current political developments and new technological developments (e.g. the Brexit referendum and the EU stance on non-renewal of trade agreements). A team of experts from Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Italy will prepare country reports on the illicit trade in tobacco products, followed by a horizontal report outlining recommendations and best practices in tackling the illicit trade in tobacco products. The conclusions of the research will be shared in an English-language publication and during an international conference organised in Warsaw at the headquarters of the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences in December 2019.
The project is divided into 5 sub-projects:
- the role of criminal law in combating illicit trade in tobacco products
- the proper role of intellectual property rights and enforcement mechanisms in controlling counterfeiting
- the impact of Brexit on the control of illicit tobacco trade in the EU
- EU tobacco industry agreements and others
- public-private partnerships
Project objectives
- To analyse the phenomenon of the illicit trade in tobacco products, its trends, mechanisms, laws and practices to combat and prevent smuggling and to inform the competent authorities, including the legislative and executive branches, of the options available to reduce the illicit trade in tobacco products within the European Union.
- To provide an international perspective on the fight against the illicit trade in tobacco products.
- To prepare reports on the criminal law aspects of combating the illicit trade in tobacco products in countries such as Lithuania, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Italy.
- To analyse the role of intellectual property protection laws, including enforcement methods, in combating counterfeit tobacco products.
- To identify gaps and errors in the existing models of preventing illicit tobacco trade and to develop recommendations for changes, and for effective combating of this type of crime (both at national and European level). To present the results to the competent authorities, including the legislative, and executive branches.
- To disseminate knowledge on the problems and contribute to the public discussion on combating illicit trade in tobacco products
Project manager:
- Celina Nowak, PhD, Prof. INP PAN
Team:
- Monika Szwarc, PhD, Professor INP PAN, Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Konrad Buczkowski, PhD, Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Marina Foltea, PhD, Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Paweł Dziekański, MA, Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
- Aleksandra Kępczyńska, Institute of Legal Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences
External experts:
- Prof. Daniele Negri, University of Ferrara, Italy
- Prof. Gintaras Svedas, University of Vilnius, Lithuania
- Marc Engelhart, PhD, Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Germany
- Libor Klimek, PhD, Slovakia
- Bodgan Sergiu, PhD, University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania