Italian Factory Smuggled E-Liquid; Site Seized
On October 25th, Italian media reported that local tax police in Naples, the capital of the Calabria region, discovered two Chinese factories suspected of smuggling e-liquid and evading taxes amounting to over 1 million euros during an investigation into companies related to e-liquid declarations.
It is reported that both Chinese factories are located in the Melito area of Naples. The tax police found that both factories lacked customs permits for purchasing pure liquid nicotine and selling products; they purchased it from China at a price of 50 to 60 euros per liter and used false documents to prove the source of these "essential oils."
Police discovered at least 36 liters of concentrated nicotine liquid in the factories, enough to produce tens of thousands of e-cigarettes. They also found 26 illegal workers in the Chinese factories.
Italy's tax laws on e-liquid explicitly state that a tax of 0.3976 euros must be paid per milliliter, with the average price of nicotine-containing e-liquid being around 500 to 600 euros per liter. Italy collects 12 billion euros in tobacco taxes annually and is the first country to impose taxes on e-cigarettes.
Reports indicate that the two Chinese factories cleverly evaded Italian tax policies and profited by flooding the European market with unlicensed e-liquid.
Currently, the police have sealed off the two Chinese factories, and the involved individuals have been prosecuted.
