“Soon here we will see more often “Fumar puede matar” written than “Fumer tue” on cigarette packets!”, denounces an angry tobacconist from Gard

Tout aussi inquiets que leurs collègues gardois, des buralistes du Vaucluse étaient présents durant cette mobilisation à Nîmes. Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

At the roundabout called Sernam in Nîmes this Monday, February 3, about fifty angry tobacconists from Gard mobilized peacefully. They warn about the constant increase in the price of packets which, according to them, displaces smokers towards other supply networks.

In Nîmes, as elsewhere, tobacconists are still angry as their profession becomes impoverished. Unfair competition from Spanish tobacco, the proliferation of counterfeit and smuggled cigarette resale points, and the unbridled increase in the price of a packet imposed by the authorities were enough to seriously stir up the anger of professionals in the Gard on Monday 3 February.

Gathered in Nîmes, at the Rond-Point known as La Sernam at the end of the morning, around fifty of them, members of the Gard tobacconists' federation, had come to express their discontent behind Ghislaine Mazoyer, their president, like Ali-Aichouba Bahidir.

Diversifying, in the face of falling prices sales

“3,300 euros of withdrawal just for the credit taken out for the repurchase of the business. 217 euros for interest. And all that before Urssaf… We can't take it anymore!”, denounces the angry tobacconist. In November 2022, this father bought a tobacco shop for 350,000 euros in Saint-Christol-lez-Alès, before having to, a year later, diversify his business into a bar-tabac to cope with the drop in sales.

“Those who bought their cigarettes from me yesterday now come just to consume the little black that went with it. And on their table, what do we see written on their cigarette packets ? Fumar puede Matar”! “, laments the trader who is asking for a harmonization of the sale price of packets on a European scale to counter – urgently – this competition that he considers unfair, from Spanish tobacco especially in the south of France.

Like his colleagues, Ali-Aichouba Bahidir is convinced: no, the number of smokers is not decreasing. The explosion in the sale price of a packet (around 12 euros today) has the sole and unique effect, according to them, of causing smokers to redirect their purchases to other sources of supply.

Grocery stores, barbers and hairdressers in excess

More specifically, regarding night grocery stores and other barbers and hairdressers that are proliferating disproportionately, particularly in Nîmes, they are precisely in the sights of elected officials Valentine Wolber and Richard Schieven, elected officials for trade and security in the City.

By the next grape harvest fair, a new municipal police brigade should be created according to the elected official in charge of security, precisely to combat both noise pollution and these clandestine tobacco resale locations that are too numerous in Nîmes. “In the meantime, we hit the nail on the head every time. Not a check (prefecture, customs, police) without us making a good catch!”.

In January 2025 alone, 20 grocery store inspection operations were carried out in the three police districts of Gard (Nîmes, Alès, Bagnols-sur-Cèze). In these stores, 1,533 packets of cigarettes were seized. Packets intended for the fraudulent resale of tobacco and found by the police hidden in caches or the partitions of these shops.

Ghislaine Mazoyer is the president of the departmental federation of tobacconists. Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

In the coming days, the mobilization continues…

This Monday, February 3, early in the afternoon, the Gard tobacconists' Federation was received by Nelson Chaudon, mayor of Beaucaire, before a leafleting operation in the city to raise awareness of their cause. Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 4, angry tobacconists from Gard will organize various mobilization actions in Bagnols-sur-Cèze and Alès starting at 10 a.m. (walking through town, awareness-raising operation near illegal tobacco resale businesses). "On Wednesday, we will be back in Nîmes. Meet in front of the tobacco shop at 35 rue Alphonse Lamartine at 10 a.m. for a new mobilization operation", finally explains Ghislaine Mazoyer, local representative of the profession.

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