Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs announced in a statement yesterday that it seized 285,000 cigarettes at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) on November 29.
According to the statement, on that day, customs officers at the delta bridge conducted a routine X-ray scan inspection on a batch of goods declared as “a shipment of cross-border e-commerce items,” which was being transferred under a customs transit procedure. The inspection discovered an anomaly in the X-ray images. Upon physical inspection, customs officers discovered a large quantity of undeclared cigarettes concealed inside two white electrical cabinets. After a full count, a total of 1,425 cartons containing 285,000 cigarettes of the Manchester brand were seized.
Gongbei Customs reminded the public that in line with the Chinese mainland’s Tobacco Monopoly Law the state has implemented a monopoly management system for the production, sale, import, and export of tobacco products, operating under a tobacco monopoly licence system. The export of cigarettes requires approval from the administrative department under the State Council in charge of tobacco monopoly and the acquisition of a tobacco monopoly licence.
This undated handout photo provided by Zhuhai Gongbei Customs yesterday shows the Manchester cigarettes seized by its officers at HZMB Zhuhai Port (checkpoint) on November 29.
