Editor’s Note: DOJ’s letter to Tribal Leaders on the February 24 and February 25 Consultation Sessions is available here. The letter includes the attachment, “TRIBAL CONSULTATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE USA PATRIOT ACT RELATING TO TRAFFICKING IN CONTRABAND CIGARETTES OR SMOKELESS TOBACCO.” Below are excerpts.
From: Department of Justice
Dear Tribal Leader:
In accordance with Executive Order 13175 and DOJ’s Consultation Policy, DOJ invites you to a consultation on proposed regulations that affect reservation-based cigarette and tobacco businesses. In 1978, the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act (CCTA), 18 U.S.C. 2341 et seq, was enacted to deter cigarette smuggling. The USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (PATRIOT Act), enacted on March 9, 2006, made several amendments to the CCTA. The DOJ Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is responsible for enforcing and administering both the CCTA and relevant amendments in the PATRIOT Act. In order to fulfill this responsibility and also ensure the rights of reservation-based cigarette and tobacco businesses, AFT has proposed further amendments to the PATRIOT Act.
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The Department of Justice places a high priority on protecting the commercial rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives across all retail opportunities. The Department plans to consult with tribes to determine how proposed federal regulation might affect this effort, and provides this framing paper to initiate the consultation and frame resulting discussion. The framing paper presents background on the contraband tobacco issue, and then focuses on pending regulation that will affect American Indian and Alaska Native reservation-based businesses that sell cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to both tribal and non-tribal buyers.
Tribal recommendations in these areas, and others, are most welcome. This framing paper raises questions about options for tribal leaders to consider and is not a statement of Department policy.
