Lawrence Kahn, a judge with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, issued the order Thursday, September 16th in response to a suit filed by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. State officials must show cause why the order shouldn't become permanent in a hearing set for September 23rd.
Mark Emery, the Oneida Nation's director of media relations, says the restraining order is a blanket one that prevents the state from collecting the tax from any tribe. The [Oneida] nation filed its own suit seeking a federal injunction earlier this week after a five-judge panel of a state appellate court lifted a previous injunction barring the state from collecting the tax. (New York State - state court clears way for state to collect cigarette tax - on to federal court..)
The lawsuits are the latest round in a long-standing battle between the state and the tribes over sales tax on cigarettes. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara for the Western District of New York had granted a request by two western New York tribes for a court order that would stop the state from imposing a $4.35 per-pack sales tax on cigarettes sold by reservation retailers starting Wednesday, September 1, 2010. (New York State - Seneca Nation and other Indian Tribes get injunction from federal judge delaying tax collection on cigarettes..) This same federal judge on Tuesday, September 7th extended his order blocking the state from taxing two Indian nations' cigarette sales to non-Indian customers while legal challenges to the state's plans continued to mount. (New York State - U.S. District Judge extends order blocking state from collecting taxes, hearing Sept 14th..)
The state expects to gain as much as $110 million for the rest of this fiscal year and $200 million annually after that from collecting the sales tax. The state had been planning to require wholesalers to levy the tax before tribes purchased cigarettes for resale. Previous efforts to force tribes to collect the tax at the point of sale have been unsuccessful.
Oneida Nation Chief Operating Officer Peter Carmen previously said the nation would not allow the state to pass along taxes to its customers in that manner and planned to cease selling name-brand cigarettes if the state attempted to collect the tax.
Several weeks ago, the nation relocated its Sovereign Tobacco company from Buffalo to nation lands in Oneida. Federal law allows tribes to sell items they produce on their reservations tax free.
If the state moves at some point to collect the tax, the nation has said it will start selling only its own two brands - Niagara's and Bishop - after it exhausts its inventory of name-brand products. The Oneida Indian Nation is one of the region's largest employers with approximately 4,800 workers at its various enterprises.
St.Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation in New York may be involved in the availability of illegal cigarettes in Canada, especially in the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. (Canada, Ontario and Quebec - illegal cigarettes greater than 40% of consumption..)
Reference: Judge grants cigarette tax restraining order by Traci DeLore, The Greater Binghamton Business Journal, 9/17/2010.
Some related news briefs:
New York State - state court clears way for state to collect cigarette tax - on to federal court..;
New York State - U.S. District Judge extends order blocking state from collecting taxes, hearing Sept 14th..;
New York State - cigarette tax collection from Native American sales pushed off until 5-judge panel decides..;
New York State - Seneca Nation and other Indian Tribes get injunction from federal judge delaying tax collection on cigarettes..;
New York State - Governor Patterson will not tax cigarettes sold among Native Americans..;
New York - Senecas asking for Bloomberg to resign over remarks he made..;
New York State - Seneca Indian Nation files sued to block enforcement of a plan to collect cigarette taxes..;
Read more...
New York State - now the Oneida Indian Nation gets restraining order from federal judge.
Australia - plain cigarette packaging will legislation be written to avoid any legal challenge..
Companies use cigarette packs as a promotional medium to reinforce the brand imagery that sells cigarettes. Pack designs link to advertising that communicates aspirational traits like elegance, health, coolness, femininity, machismo or freshness. The plain-packaging law removes another avenue through which tobacco companies promote their products, and could has a positive impact on rates of chronic, tobacco-caused diseases. (Philip Morris Astroturfs Australia's Plain Cigarette Pack Law, Source: Sydney Morning Herald, PRWatch.org, 9/11/2010)
"Introducing plain packaging just takes away the ability of a consumer to identify our brand from another brand, and that's of value to us," Imperial Tobacco Australia spokeswoman Cathie Keogh told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio, adding that the company plans to take legal action.
On April 29, 2010 Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the legislation will be carefully drafted to hold up against any legal challenge. "We have firm advice that this action can be taken," she said. (Australia - U.S. Chamber of Commerce expresses concern about cigarette plain-packaging..)
Ministerial briefing notes obtained by The Australian say plans to force plain packaging of cigarettes "may not be consistent with Australia's intellectual property treaty considerations" and warn that tobacco companies may seek compensation from taxpayers. The Constitution and international trade agreements prevent the government from stripping or devaluing property without compensation on "just terms", including intellectual property rights such as trademarks.
One independent estimate has put the possible compensation cost at as high as $3 billion. But Health Minister Nicola Roxon insists the government will press on with the measure despite the likelihood of a High Court challenge from the tobacco companies.
The government says it has "robust" legal advice backing its move. But IP Australia, the agency that administers trademarks and other intellectual property, has warned that even if making plain packaging mandatory were not found to constitute an acquisition of property, cigarette companies may still be able to seek compensation.
"Requiring plain packaging would make it easier for counterfeit goods to be produced and would make it difficult to readily identify these," it said in a brief to the then parliamentary secretary for health, Richard Marles, copied to Ms Roxon last
September.
Trademark attorney: Tobacco companies have no case on plain packaging by Glen Gordon, Tobacco Facts, 5/5/2010.
Cigarette companies have funnelled over $5 million into a campaign against plain cigarette packaging.
References: Taxpayer may take wrap rap for plain package cigarettes, Christian Kerr, The Australian, 9/15/2010; Australia to Ban Logos on Cigarette Packs, Lauren Frayer, Aol News, 4/29/2010
Read more...
Bulgaria - privatization agency gives approval to contract with Citigroup Global Markets..
The final seal of approval was delayed after Raiffeisen Investment – Kamburov, which ranked second in the contest for consultant, appealed the decision only to withdraw its objections later.
Citigroup Global Markets Limited was picked in February outbidding three companies, including a tie-in between KBC Securities and Tokushev & Co, Raiffeisen investments- Kamburov and Renaissance Securities.
Citigroup Global Markets Limited represents the European investment banking arm of US-based financial services giant Citigroup. Its activities include underwriting equities and fixed-income products, equity research, and banking services for multinational corporations, middle-market enterprises, and small businesses.
At the end of last year Bulgaria's Energy, Economy and Tourism Minister, Traicho Traikov, announced that the starting price for the state share in Bulgartabac Holding would be around EUR 100 M. (Bulgaria - Citigroup chosen as consultant for sale of Bulgartabac..)
Citigroup will pocket EUR 1.018 M to carry out a legal analysis, make a sell-off assessment as well as organise and maintain a webpage. It will get 1.6% of Bulgartabac's sale price.
Bulgaria's Privatization Agency hopes to complete the sale of the state-owned cigarette monopoly in 2010. (Bulgaria - investor shows interest in state-owned cigarette monopoly Bulgartabac..)
Bulgartabac Holding currently operates two cigarette factories compared with nine in 2004 and its market share has shrank to some 40% from 60% a year earlier. The holding still owns a number of commercial brands. Two of the less profitable plants of Bulgartabac holding – in the cities of Plovdiv and Stara Zagora – were sold in 2009 on Sofia Stock Exchange. (Bulgartabac - 1st half 2010 - Bulgarian Tobacco Company Registers Huge Profit Increase..)
Bulgartabac sale is part of Bulgaria's center-right government plans to angle for strategic investors for key majors, such as the tobacco monopoly and a few energy companies, in which the state owns higher than a 50% stake. (Bulgaria - new government to speed-up Bulgartabac sale..)
The decision was taken earlier this year after the cabinet was urged to sell on the stock exchange shares in companies, which are part of the Bulgarian Energy Holding, in a bid to put the local capital market back on track.
Reference: Bulgaria's Tobacco Monopoly Sale Consultant Gets Final Ok, Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency), 9/14/2010.
Bulgartabac related news briefs:
Bulgartabac - 1st half 2010 - Bulgarian Tobacco Company Registers Huge Profit Increase..;
Bulgaria - investor shows interest in state-owned cigarette monopoly Bulgartabac..;
Bulgaria - Bulgartabac Holding sales jumped by 15-20 percent..;
Bulgaria - Bulgartabac buyer may be chosen by end of year..;
Bulgaria - Citigroup chosen as consultant for sale of Bulgartabac..;
Bulgaria - sale of Bulgartabac coming - selection of a consultant..;
Bulgaria - tobacco producers propose Bulgartabac transfer..;
Bulgaria - start of steps leading to the privatization of the state-owned cigarette monopoly Bulgartabac..;
Bulgaria - Bulgartabac Holding” will be privatized in 2010..;
Bulgartabac Chief - cigarette tax increase as of January 1, 2010..;
Bulgaria Bulgartabac Holding Sells 23% of Shares to Mutual Funds..;
Bulgaria - new government to speed-up Bulgartabac sale..;
Does Russia own Bulgaria's tobacco monopoly, Bulgartabac..;
Read more...
United Nations - yes smoking is allowed but discouraged..
September 19, 2010 - WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. WHO - promoting tobacco control around the world..
Tucked inside a story about how the NYPD (New Yprk Police Department) thinks the UN is woefully unprepared for a terrorist attack is this little fact about the perks of living outside of city jurisdiction. Though smoking is banned in most UN office buildings (like that firetrap, the Secretariat), it is allowed in the corridors! It's so the French can continue to look cool on American soil, right? With regards to those security measures, the UN is refusing to make the necessary changes to prevent a terrorist attack, preferring to fight back by giving the terrorists emphysema. Controlling the State of Tobacco in the City of New York
Reference: You Can Smoke Inside The UN by Jaya Saxena, mobile.Gothamist.com, 9/18/2010.
Read more...
Ireland - 2009 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General..
Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General 2009, Chapter 15, page 205 Counteracting Smuggling of Tobacco, September 15, 2010.
Excise duty on cigarettes and fine cut tobacco (‘roll-your-own’) is payable by means of the purchase of security stamps118 which are affixed to the packet beneath the cellophane wrapper. Excise duty on other tobacco products such as cigars and pipe tobacco is payable by reference to the weight of the product.
There is no published official estimate of the extent of evasion of duty on tobacco products in Ireland. Revenue has in recent years, in conjunction with the Office of Tobacco Control,commissioned surveys, based on market research, which attempt to estimate the scale of illicit cigarette consumption and consumption of cigarettes untaxed in Ireland but purchased legitimately abroad. The most recent survey in 2009 estimated that 20% of cigarettes consumed in Ireland were untaxed. The figure for illicit consumption was put at 14% which would equate to a loss to the Exchequer of approximately €200 million (261,209,247.88 USD). The balance of 6% related to legal untaxed (in Ireland) cigarettes.
Revenue has stated that it is currently undertaking an analysis of the economics of tobacco with a view to obtaining a better understanding of the market for tobacco in Ireland. Revenue has stated that organised crime is centrally involved in the illicit cigarette market.
The priorities for 2010 included “tackling the social and fiscal menace of tobacco smuggling to prevent it undermining government finance and public health policy”.
An aid to identification of illicit tobacco products is X-ray scanners. X-ray scanners can identify illicit goods in containers and vehicles. The scanner takes an X-ray image of the container and officers interpret that image based on training and experience. Revenue first acquired a scanner in 2006 and a second one was acquired in late 2009. One scanner operates in and around Dublin Port and the other, while based in Rosslare, is available to other regions as required. It is only possible to scan a small percentage of the containers that arrive each week in
Dublin Port (approximately 10,000). The report says the identification of suspect consignments has become more difficult because smugglers increasingly use the tax registration details of legitimate traders.
The total number of cigarettes seized has grown from 74 million in 2007 to 135 million in 2008 and over 218 million last year. The report says the extent of seizures does not necessarily indicate whether this is impacting on the size of the illicit trade.
Reference: High taxes 'making Ireland a target', PAUL CULLEN Consumer Affairs Correspondent, IrishTimes.com, 9/16/2010.
Some Ireland related news briefs:
Ireland - police force says gangs making €3m a week from illegal cigarette sales..;
Ireland - time for major effort to crackdown on tobacco smuggling..;
Ireland - tobacco smuggling has reached record levels..;
Ireland - Office of Tobacco Control 2009 Annual Report..;
Ireland retailers claim since display ban smuggling up - denied by health campaigners..;
Ireland - highest tobacco prices in the EU..;
Ireland - smoking on the increase with young women in lower-income groups..;
Ireland - Illicit tobacco trade booms..;
Ireland - no increase in excise duty on tobacco products worry about smuggling..;
reland - ASH will never give up - get smoking out of cars (and homes) when kids are present..;
Ireland - harder to quit when switching to low tar cigarettes..;
Ireland - after 2004 smoking ban decline in maternal smoking rates as well as lower risk for preterm births..;
Ireland - cancer society urges government to increase cigarette tax..;
Ireland - increase fine for cigarettes imported illegally..;
Ireland - roll your own cigarettes making a comeback..;
Ireland - lots of smokers - lots of sickness - resulting in premature death - THIS HAS TO STOP..;
Ireland - people responding well to the ban on cigarette displays..;
Ireland - Prof Clancy not enough spent on prevention..;
Ireland - tobacco vendors must register by October 1, 2009..;
Children - exposed to cigarette smoke in cars have greater chance of respiratory distress..;
Ireland - tobacco companies not helping small retailers - display ban..;
Tobacco control initiatives starting Wednesday, July 1, 2009..;
Ireland - Office of Tobacco Control 2008 annual report - Positive..;
Ireland - modest penalty for cigarette smuggling..;
Ireland - to amend tobacco legislation to to include pictoral warnings..;
Ireland - as of July 1, 2009 no advertising or display of tobacco products will be permitted in retail outlets..;
Ireland - cigarette tax abandoned over smuggling fears..;
Ireland - may raise tax on cigarettes as part of emergency budget..;
Ireland - ban smoking in cars when kids are present..;
Ireland - further provisions of the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts 2002 and 2004 are to be commenced on 1 July 2009.;
Ireland - 80% of smokers want a ban on tobacco advertising in shops to stop youngsters starting the habit..;
Ireland to ban tobacco displays..;
Ireland - reduction in admissions for acute coronary syndrome...
Read more...
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