Maureen Moore: "International treaty"

This is said to cost the tax man about �300m a year in lost revenue and the report alleged that the tobacco industry has been partly responsible for the scale of smuggling.

It is believed that billions of British cigarettes are exported to places where there is no market for them and little demand for UK brands.

Maureen Moore, chief executive of Ash Scotland said that this practice deliberately encourages smuggling.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, she said: "They are exporting �9bn of cigarettes into Cyprus.

"Now we know that the Cypriots don't smoke British cigarettes. If they were to smoke all those cigarettes then they would be smoking 65,000 each."

Asked if this was evidence that the tobacco industry was colluding in smuggling, Ms Moore said: "It certainly looks like that".

The theory is that the cigarettes can then be picked up by organised gangs and shipped back to the UK.

'Legitimate market'

She maintained that stricter controls are needed to stem the flow of illegal tobacco products into Britain.

"We need to have an international treaty," she said.

"We need to make the tobacco companies accountable for their product. It's their product - they should be accountable to make sure it's in a legitimate market."

The fault lies with the government, not with the companies who are carrying out legitimate trade to those countries

John Carlyle, Tobacco Manufacturers Association

But this charge of complicity in smuggling has been flatly rejected by the tobacco industry.

John Carlisle, chief spokesman for the Tobacco Manufacturers Association, said all exports are legitimate, subject to strict regulation and European laws.

He blamed high government taxation for the rise in illegal imports.

"There's no collusion at all with smugglers. We don't like smugglers," he said.

"We don't like the way they sell their cigarettes to children on street corners and undermine our retailers. We'd much rather it was legitimate trade.

Poverty problem

"But I regret because the disparity in tax is so much, the smuggling is bound to occur.

"The fault lies with the government, not with the companies who are carrying out legitimate trade to those countries."

For professionals dealing with the problems which illegal imports of alcohol and tobacco create, the main problem is poverty.

The tobacco industry has defended its position

Brian Pringle of the West Lothian Drug and Alcohol Project said: "People see it as, they demand cigarettes, they are getting them in a far cheaper way than they could get them in the shops, it's making their money last longer."

He said many people who buy illegal cigarettes view smugglers as Robin Hood type figures who supply cheaper products and strike back at the tax man.

The final outcome of the debate, however, is likely to be settled in Westminster.

A Department of Trade and Industry inquiry is already under way into allegations that the industry is colluding with smuggling.

Westminster's health select committee is also probing these allegations but it is waiting for the outcome of the DTI report before taking the matter further.