Enforcement Forum

From: Zacks Research

Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) has filed a case in U.S. District Court against local retailers in Miami for selling fake Marlboro cigarettes. The New York-based cigarette company has tracked down 17 retailers who have been selling these cigarettes.

Philip Morris has been fighting against retailers and importers who sell fake versions of its top branded cigarettes. In 2008 the tobacco giant had terminatedits relationship with the Poospatucks based on findings brought out by The Center for Public Integrity that indicted one of its distributors, Mauro Pennisi Inc. ofdistributing fake cigarettes to the citizens.

From: Prague Post

Slovak customs officers seized more than 4 million cigarettes and made six arrests in a raid on an illegal tobacco plant in Male Blagovo, the Focus news agency reported. Production equipment and raw tobacco were also recovered, which customs said would have cost the state at least 1 million euro (24.25 million Kč / $1.45 million) in lost taxes. Four Bulgarians and two Slovaks were arrested.

FDA’s tobacco advisory committee continues to ignore statements by the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness that its organic statute requires it to address the negative health impacts of contraband cigarettes, see http://www.thecre.com/tpsac/?p=1119

 Consequently, in the attached letter CRE is requesting that the General Counsel of the FDA apprise the  FDA Center for Tobacco Products and TPSAC of their statutory responsibilities to study, and report, in detail on the well documented negative impacts that counterfeit cigarettes have on the health of smokers and the violence sustained by non-smokers resulting from attacks by  drug cartels.

 The letter states, in part,