Brussels, 20/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 19 January, OLAF, the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) signed a cooperation arrangement to enhance cooperation between the two organisations and step up the fight against international organised crime. The cooperation arrangement sets out the basis for the working relationship between OLAF and the ATF in combating the illicit trade in tobacco products.
According to the latest available statistics, 5.3 billion illegal cigarettes were seized by law enforcement agencies across the EU in 2008 and several billion euro in tax and customs revenue are lost by the EU and member states each year to smugglers. The ATF is a law enforcement agency in the United States' Department of Justice. Based in Washington, it has 25 field offices in the United States and over 2,500 special agents. One aspect of their work is to investigate the illegal diversion of tobacco products. In the United States, federal and state governments estimate that tobacco diversion costs over $5 billion in revenue from unpaid excise taxes annually. (B.C./transl.rt)