He claimed that another tax hike would only put more pressure on the legal tobacco market while the Surinamese govern-ment loses hundreds of millions of dollars in income because of the illegal trade in cigarettes. MP Joeloemsingh pointed out that the illegal trade in cigarettes has experienced a strong growth in the past couple of years. He claimed that the illegal cigarettes currently cover about 75% of the local market. MP Joeloemsingh also claimed that previous tax hikes have pushed consumers to the black market as a source for their cigarettes. “I fear that if the taxes are raised again, the legal trade will disappear”, said MP Joeloemsingh who added that there are two ways in which the illegal cigarettes are brought into Suriname. A portion is smuggled into the country while another portion is legally imported as transit goods. “In the end these products remain on the Suriname market,”, said MP Joeloemsingh who criticized the lack of effective measures to tackle this illegal trade. “It seems as if nobody is tackling it. I do not know if people cannot tackle it or if do not want to tackle it”, said MP Joeloemsingh who claimed that the Surinamese government lets more than SRD 500 million in tax income slip through its fingers because of lack of action against the illegal trade. The legislatir urged the government to launch a thorough investigation and to take firm action against the illegal trade in cigarettes.