Jump to full article: Canada Newswire (CNW) (ca), 2002-08-01
Intro: "To suggest that the Canadian duty-free industry is part of the illegal tobacco trade is to ignore all the facts and put rational thought aside."
These words today from Andre Bergeron, Executive Director of the Association of Canadian Airport Duty-Free Operators in response to proposals at a conference in New York this week related to the World Health Organization's (WHO) ongoing negotiations for a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Mr. Bergeron was responding to a draft provision at the conference that calls for "progressively restricting, with an eye toward prohibiting, duty free sales of tobacco".
Like the rest of the international industry, Canadian land-border and airport retailers believe they should not be made victims of anti-contraband or export control policies when they are not responsible for this problem.
The duty-free representatives took great exception to false accusations put forward by non-governmental organizations such as the Framework Convention Alliance in their conference brief suggesting that large tobacco quantities may be sold legally from duty-free outlets to smugglers.
In fact, the Canadian duty-free industry has in place best practices in terms of controlled premises, strictly enforced regulatory controls on the transfer of tobacco products, and restrictions on sales including personal use limits and the prohibition of sales to minors.
The Canadian Government itself has testified before the Senate in Parliament to this effect stating: "the Canadian duty-free industry has not been a source of contraband. They are tightly controlled."
Jump to full article » |