Tobacco.org

Honduran President Orders Pay Hike--Cigar Brands Affected 

Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has ordered a comprehensive increase in the minimum wage that will require cigar factory owners to pay their rollers up to 50 percent more.

"The pay hike is effective February 1st," said Rocky Patel, owner of Honduran-made Rocky Patel premium cigars, which are produced in the El Paraiso factory near Danl�.

"The cigar industry will be heavily impacted by the increase," said Alan Rubin, owner of Alec Bradley cigars.

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Scandinavian Tobacco buys C. American cigar plants 

Europe's largest cigar manufacturer, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, said on Thursday it had bought two family-owned cigar factories in Central America for an undisclosed sum to expand its global footprint.

The factories are in Danli, in Honduras, and Esteli, in Nicaragua

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Hurricane has Minimal Impact on Cigar in Nicaragua and Honduras 

Hurricane Felix struck Nicaragua as a Category 5 storm yesterday . . .

Despite the power of the storm, its impact on Nicaragua's cigar industry appears to be minimal. Cigar production in the country is concentrated in Estelí, much farther south, where little of the storm's strength was felt.

The biggest concern for the Nicaraguan cigar industry were the tobacco fields of Jalapa, which were close to the storm's impact zone in the north, near the border of Honduras.

"Jalapa's OK -- no problems," said Jorge Padrón, president of Padrón Cigars Inc., which uses tobacco from across Nicaragua.

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SIEWERT: Cigar babes head to Honduras 

The first words out of her mouth were: "Call Mary Lynn at Lake Country Cigars right away. She has a great opportunity for you!" My curiosity set in and I dialed her number.

Three months later I was on an airplane heading to Danli, Honduras, with 15 other women, mostly from the Lake Country area. I was officially a member of Cigar Babes, a group of women cigar smokers which Mary Lynn Kane Smith, owner of Lake Country Cigars in Delafield, had formed eight years ago.

It was the first time Rocky Patel of Rocky Patel Premium Cigars hosted an all-women cigar smoking group at his home in Danli.

It was also a first for Smith. "Traveling with a group of women is one thing, but traveling with a group of cigar smoking women is another. Many of the women went on this trip not knowing anything about cigars and returned with a passion for it," Smith says.

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LETTER: HK's free-trade status will survive anti-smoking step ($$) 

The claim by Japan Tobacco's legal representative that a ban on the use of grossly misleading descriptors on tobacco products would ruin the city's free-trade image (October 7) can only be described as a desperate flight of fantasy.

The resistance from the cigarette-maker must not deflect the government or legislators from providing the community with the tightest possible tobacco-control measures to protect health. When Japan Tobacco contrived the brand name Mild Seven, it did so with the intention of masking the known lethality of the product. The claim that such a move should not now be a legitimate target for public health measures is untenable.

Michael Thomas, SC, should explain on behalf of his clients why it would be ethically justifiable to trade off nicotine addiction in young people and premature death at all ages against what they call "free trade".

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ASIL Insights: WTO Panel Rules on Geographical Indications 

In early April 2005, the WTO Appellate Body (AB) issued a ruling in an appeal of a case brought by Honduras against measures taken by the Dominican Republic in connection with the importation and internal sale of cigarettes.[1] One of the measures was a requirement that a tax stamp be affixed to all cigarettes.

The importance of this case stems from its analysis of Article XX(d) of the GATT 1994. Article XX , entitled "General Exceptions," allows WTO members to take 10 types of measures (listed in subparagraphs a-j) that would otherwise conflict with their WTO obligations, provided that specified conditions are met. Subparagraph (d) covers measures "necessary" to secure compliance with laws or regulations that are themselves consistent with the WTO. The Dominican Republic claimed its tax stamp requirement was covered by Article XX (d) because it was "necessary" to ensure compliance with tax and anti-cigarette smuggling laws.

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• Big Tobacco Beats Back RICO Claims 

Lawyers for five U.S. tobacco companies have persuaded the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to adopt a 225-year-old common law principle that bars three Latin American countries from suing them in U.S. courts.

That principle, called the revenue rule, prohibits one country from trying to enforce its own revenue laws in another country's courts.

In the defense's brief, Goodwin Proctor's Kenneth J. Parsigian, who represented the tobacco companies, cited cases from 225 years of Anglo-American jurisprudence

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• Tobacco Companies Win Smuggling Appeal 

Tobacco manufacturers have won an appeal challenging lawsuits by the governments of Belize, Ecuador and Honduras that claim the companies conspired to smuggle cigarettes into their countries to boost profits and evade taxes.

The racketeering suits against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, Lorillard and Liggett boil down to attempts to enforce foreign tax claims in U.S. courts, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided, upholding an earlier ruling by a Miami federal judge throwing out the lawsuit.

The court ruled that the strategy violates 18th century English common law and cannot be pursued. The ruling Friday did not address whether the companies smuggled cigarettes.

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• Latin American Nations Claim Tobacco Cos. Violated RICO 

A centuries-old common-law rule may bar three Latin American nations from suing American tobacco companies under RICO in U.S. courts.

According to Kenneth J. Parsigian, who argued for the tobacco companies Tuesday before a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nations of Belize, Ecuador and Honduras don't have the right to sue his clients.

"No court anywhere in history, anywhere in the world, has ever allowed a claim like this to go forward," said Parsigian, of Boston's Goodwin Proctor.

The three countries have accused five tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Phillip Morris Cos. Inc. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., of setting up "elaborate criminal schemes to move their tobacco products into the hands of smokers, well below the radar screen of [the countries'] regulatory infrastructure." According to the plaintiffs, the companies sold tobacco in the Latin American nations tax-free by moving it through shadow companies and smugglers.

They filed a complaint in a Florida state court, alleging money laundering and mail and wire fraud, among other things. . .

Perwin said his clients' right to recourse in the U.S. courts is established under the plain language of RICO.

"[The revenue rule] is obviously superseded by the plain meaning of the federal statute," he said. "The plain meaning of the statute covers our claim. No doubt about it."

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No court anywhere in history, anywhere in the world, has ever allowed a claim like this to go forward.
Kenneth J. Parsigian, who argued for the tobacco companies before a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals against the suit by Belize, Ecuador and Honduras.

[The revenue rule] is obviously superseded by the plain meaning of the [RICO] federal statute. . . No doubt about it.
Joel S. Perwin, lawyer for the Latin American nations.

Latin American Nations Claim Tobacco Cos. Violated RICO 

A centuries-old common-law rule may bar three Latin American nations from suing American tobacco companies under RICO in U.S. courts.

According to Kenneth J. Parsigian, who argued for the tobacco companies Tuesday before a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nations of Belize, Ecuador and Honduras don't have the right to sue his clients.

"No court anywhere in history, anywhere in the world, has ever allowed a claim like this to go forward," said Parsigian, of Boston's Goodwin Proctor.

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Survey of Smoking Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice in School Children in Honduras 

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Governments sue tobacco firms 

Legal experts have said that Siegel's finding that a Miami court lacks jurisdiction in such cases could indicate a similar fate for other foreign plaintiffs.

In a statement, Philip Morris said it would mount a vigorous defense to the latest lawsuits, which it says go directly against Siegel's earlier determination.

``Simply alleging injuries to its citizenry does not entitle a foreign government to target an American industry and try to exploit the U.S. court system,'' said William S. Ohlemeyer, associate general counsel for the company.

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• Honduras, Belize claim tobacco firms evading taxes 

Honduras and Belize, already trying to force U.S. cigarette makers to pay the healthcare costs of sick smokers, on Tuesday claimed in lawsuits that the companies systematically smuggled tobacco to avoid duties and taxes.

The U.S. lawsuits seek unspecified billions of dollars in damages and allege that Philip Morris Cos. Inc., the maker of Marlboros, and the No. 2 U.S. cigarette group, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., participated in rings organized to avoid taxes. The suits also ask that the practices stop.

The suits allege the defendants violated laws by participating in a smuggling ring that shipped tobacco products from the two Central American nations as tax-free exports and then re-imported them as a way of beating taxes and duties. . .

In addition to the new tax claims by Honduras and Belize, which have health-costs suits against tobacco companies pending in Florida courts, 14 Brazilian state and city governments also filed suits that seek damages from the cigarette makers for treating sick smokers.

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ADVISORY/Governments of Honduras and Belize and 14 Brazilian States and Cities File Multi-billion Dollar Lawsuits Against Big Tobacco 

The governments of Honduras and Belize, as well as three states and eleven cities of Brazil, today filed in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court multiple lawsuits totaling billions of dollars against more than a dozen U.S. tobacco companies, including Phillip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, which manufacture and distribute tobacco products to their citizens.

The lawsuits on behalf of the 14 Brazilian states and cities allege that the tobacco companies deliberately concealed knowledge of the dangers of smoking and the addictive nature of nicotine contained in tobacco products, and seek reimbursements of the funds expended on behalf of those injured by and addicted to the tobacco products. The complaints also allege the companies were aware of the harmful and deadly effects created by their tobacco products on the health and welfare of the citizens of Brazil and has caused or created various deadly diseases such as cancer, lung and heart disease, and emphysema. The three states of Brazil are Para, Parana, and Rondonia. The eleven cities are Rio de Janeiro, Belford Roxo, Belo Horizonte, Carapicuiba, Duque de Caxias, Joao Pessoa, Jundiai Mage, Nilopolis-RJ, Nova Iguacu-RJ, and Sao Bernardo do Campo.

In addition, the governments of Honduras and Belize are filing second complaints alleging that the companies smuggled tobacco products and violated the country's laws by not paying the required duties and taxes.

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Cigarette snuffed in beggar child's eye 

The son of a national human rights official was arrested for allegedly putting out his cigarette in the eye of a child beggar, police said on Sunday.

Rodrigo Valladares Pineda, 20, son of Honduran human rights commissioner Leo Valladares, was arrested on Friday.

Police said on Sunday that a drunken Valladares Pineda had stopped his car at a red light when 10-year-old Eleazar Munoz approached him and asked him for money.

Valladares Pineda allegedly responded by sticking his lit cigarette in Munoz's right eye. The boy was hospitalised with first-degree burns.

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