Simon Kang got some surprise customers at his Victoria Street cigarettes shop. Two tobacco tax inspectors, wearing police-like uniforms made the visit as part of Ontario’s mandate to make sure only permitted products are being sold in shops.

Although the visit caught Kane off guard, he said he has never seen a tobacco inspector in the 18 years he has owned Victoria Convenience. He added he understood the purpose of the visit.

Inspectors took notes on the cigarettes stored. Kane showed receipts for some of them. They told him he would have 30 business days to find the receipts he couldn’t immediately provide, or else pay a fine. Kane said he only buys tobacco from major distributors and keeps all the receipts and all his products are legal. The inspection took about half an hour.

Scott Blodgett, speaking from Queen’s Park said: “Revenue staff actually conducts an average of 600 of these inspections every month, right across the province. Tobacco inspectors have two initiatives when they visit a store. One is to educate the retailer and to ensure compliance with the Tobacco Tax Act, so inspectors will check for untaxed tobacco product. They’re also there to explain to retailers the distribution channels in place for tobacco, to ensure retailers are purchasing products from legitimate sources.”

But the inspections are important because the fake trade seems to be growing and more illegal products are getting into shops. The province is expecting $1.092 billion in revenue from tobacco taxes from 2008-09. Victoria Convenience is not the only convenience store, which has been exposed to an inspection.

Henry Cho, the owner of Bayview Express on Dundas Street East, said his store has not been inspected lately, but he did receive a visit from tobacco inspectors about a year ago. He also said he did not mind letting them in. He said. “No. It’s just regular checking.”