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Doggett, Wyden Introduce Bill
To Stop Tobacco Smuggling
Combating illegal trade would help decrease
availability of tobacco to kids, return tax dollars to states
July 14, 2004
WASHINGTON,
DC – U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and U.S. Sen. Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation this week to combat illicit
trafficking in tobacco, a key strategy for addressing worldwide
nicotine addiction. The legislation, called the Smuggled Tobacco
Prevention Act (SToP), puts new and stronger requirements on tobacco
labeling, tracking and reporting on all tobacco packages manufactured
in or imported to the U.S. It would require each package of tobacco
products manufactured for export to be marked to identify the
country of final destination to prevent illegal reentry into the
U.S. or other nations. The SToP Act includes provisions recommended
by the World Health Organization (WHO) and adopted in the recently
decided EU-Philip Morris Settlement to curb tobacco smuggling
and tax evasion.
“In the recent EU settlement,
Big Tobacco agreed to set new standards for stopping tobacco smuggling
in Europe and cannot justify doing less to reduce smuggling in
America," said Rep. Doggett, a member of the House Committee
on Ways and Means and Subcommittee on Health. "It is now
up to Congress adopt the STOP Act and keep cheap tobacco out of
the hands of our children and keep the profits of smuggled cigarettes
out the bank accounts of international terrorists.”
“Tobacco smugglers are
making big bucks off of an illegal trade that increases the availability
of tobacco to children all over the world,” said Wyden.
“This legislation will protect our children from a harmful
addiction and get tax dollars back to the states where they belong.”
In an August 2003 report, the
WHO estimated that worldwide, governments lose $25-30 billion
in taxes to cigarette smuggling, with state and federal authorities
in the U.S. suffering losses of more than $1.5 billion annually
in evaded cigarette taxes. The health consequences of widespread
smuggling are also severe because the number of nicotine-addicted
children increases dramatically with the availability of cheap
tobacco.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free
Kids, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American
Cancer Society, Infact, Federation of Tax Administrators, Canadian
Non-Smokers' Rights Association and former Surgeon General C.
Everett Koop have all endorsed the SToP Act. Dr. Koop called the
bill “the kind of public health measure that must be encouraged
by the federal government.”
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