Lithuanian tobacco producers suggest restricting Belarusian cigarette imports

November 28, BPN. Imports of Belarusian cigarettes to Lithuania should not exceed a total of 80 cigarettes per person within one month, said Arnas Neverauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Association of Tobacco Producers.

Exceeding the limits should be considered smuggling, he added.

Currently, people are permitted to bring up to 40 cigarettes on a single trip, Delfi said.

Neverauskas noted a spike of Belarusian tobacco imports to Lithuania after Belarus had introduced a visa waiver for the Baltic states’ nationals.

Travel flows of Lithuanians to Belarus grew ninefold in the first 10 months of 2022, with many of them crossing the border several times during one day. Lithuanian authorities suspect them of importing cigarettes to sell illegally.

Every fifth cigarette sold in Lithuania is smuggled into the country, and nine out of 10 are of Belarusian origin, said Neverauskas.

Despite regular seizures of smuggled Belarusian cigarettes, Lithuania’s сustoms department did not support this idea citing administrative costs and increased waiting times at the border.

Belarus introduced visa waiver for Lithuania and Latvia on April 15. Since then, a total of 223,848 Lithuanians have visited Belarus, including 5,784 last week alone.