About $440 million worth of chewing gum are smuggled into the country every year. According to Jamshid Maghazei, the head of the Association of Iranian Confectionery Manufacturing Companies, besides harming domestic production, consumption of contraband gum poses health risks as there is no supervision over the quality of smuggled products, Eghtesad News reported. Considering the improving standards of domestic products, the official called for the advertising of local brands to wean consumers off foreign gum. Iran has exported millions of dollars worth of chewing gum to Afghanistan, South Africa, the UAE, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar and Kuwait in the current Iranian year (started March 21).
