Written question asked by Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru) on Monday, 7 September 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 September 2026. It was answered by Lord Leong (Labour) on Monday, 21 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government what figures they have on the amount of illegal tobacco seized by trading standards offices in the past 12 months; whether they plan to publish them; and what plans they have to publish comparable figures for each of the three preceding years.

Answer: HMRC publish information on enforcement activity through the Annual Outputs for tackling tobacco smuggling publication. The 25/26 publication shows Trading Standards seized over 35 million illicit cigarettes and more than 8,000kg of illicit hand-rolling tobacco in 2025/26, preventing revenue losses of over £25m. HMRC intend to continue publishing this information annually and previous publications also contain information on Trading Standards activity.

Secondary information