Illicit Cigarette Trade Creates Woes for Retailers

 

(CSN) This March, The Tax Foundation released a report highlighting the illicit cigarette trade in the United States. Shortly after, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new Cigarette Strike Force -- composed of state, local and federal agencies -- to crack down on illegal tobacco trafficking and sales in the Empire State. A few months later, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) launched a special website called the "New Tobacco Road" to draw attention to cigarette smuggling and the issue's seriousness for the tobacco industry and all its players, including convenience store retailers and wholesalers. While the black market trade of cigarettes is not a problem of the 21st century -- it has been around for decades, in fact -- the situation is getting more serious. Continued