INTERNATIONAL. Luxury global travel retailer DFS has today joined as a signatory to the Duty Free World Council (DFWC) and Tax Free World Association (TFWA) anti-illicit trade declaration. The company becomes the seventh leading travel retailer to sign it.
By signing the declaration, signatories commit to a zero-tolerance approach to illicit trade within their own organisation.
DFS is part of the LVMH group and operates in markets including Europe, North America, China, Japan, and the wider Asia Pacific region. DFWC and TFWA said its addition to the declaration marks a major extension of the duty free and tax free industry’s public commitment to combat illicit trade, counterfeiting and intellectual property theft.
As reported, DFWC and TFWA launched the anti-illicit trade declaration – which has also been signed by leading travel retailers ARI, Dubai Duty Free, Dufry, Gebr. Heinemann, Lagardère Travel Retail and Qatar Duty Free – in July 2023.
DFWA and TFWA said that despite a very high level of trust from customers, there is a perception that duty free is an enabler of illicit trade when illicitly produced goods are fraudulently mislabelled as duty free to make them appear more authentic.
Not only does this deceive customers, they note, but it causes the travel retail industry reputational damage when it is wrongly assumed that fraudulently mislabelled illicit goods are in any way associated with it.
DFWC President Sarah Branquinho said: “The Duty Free World Council and Tax Free World Association were proud to launch the anti-illicit trade declaration in July of this year with a strong contingent of supportive retailer signatories at the outset.
“The signature of DFS is a major addition to the declaration and can only serve to further strengthen it and set an example for other retailers and suppliers around the world. We now have seven of the largest travel retailers in the world signed up.
“In the months ahead we hope to bring further positive news as other retailers and brand owners commit to supporting the anti-illicit trade declaration.
“Our industry boasts one of the most transparent, trusted, and secure supply chains in the world. Customers around the world shop in duty- and tax-free stores because they have complete trust in the provenance and authenticity of the quality products we sell.
“This campaign reaffirms that trust, and sends a clear message to our millions of customers around the world that they can shop with confidence in duty- and tax-free stores.”
The declaration has been created as the next step in the ‘Duty Free: Trusted, Transparent, Secure’ campaign, which was jointly launched by DFWC and TFWA in June 2022.
The anti-illicit trade declaration is for all organisations retailing or supplying duty- and tax-free goods. For more information, email cameron.gray@pentagroup.co. 
