Abstract
Nowadays, the most commonly-spread form is the filter-tipped cigarette; big companies like Philip Morris use machines which can produce thousands of cigarettes a minute; the cigarette becomes omnipresent during the 20th century: from the middle-class person to the worker, from the student to the gangster, it is on everyone's lips; according to the way of smoking, it can be associated with very different images (composure, cool, smartness, nervousness...); but of course, its fame isn't so good today, since medical statistics put thousands of deaths each year down to tobacco.
This article emanates from the Members of Parliament's report against Imperial Tobacco Company. It tackles the problem of the sale of illegally smuggled cigarettes, which is provoked by the lack of a good cooperation between the State and Imperial Tobacco that would aim at curbing cigarette smuggling. Such a situation has two bad impacts: on the one hand, from the point of view of the taxpayer ("When customs asked legitimate questions about this activity Imperial's approach was to fob them off [l.55 to 58]", "enormous losses to the public purse [l.61-62]"), and on the other hand, from the companies' point of view ("It cannot help Imperial Tobacco's good name if there is a question mark over their attitude [l.68 to 70]").
Edward Leigh, the Tory Chairman of the committee, suggests two main solutions: "providing more timely responses to customs' requests for information [l.64 to 66]" and "exercising greater discretion in their choice of markets [l.66 to 68]". But there is still a gap between the wish and the reality; thus, a "full criminal investigation [l.81]" has been called for.
