Postal Service set to enforce tobacco ban
WASHINGTON—The U. S. Postal Service will institute its ban on the mailing of almost all tobacco products June 29, the agency said in a set of rules that appear to leave Seneca Nation businesses with no loopholes for mailing their tax-free cigarettes. “Nonmailable cigarettes and smokeless tobacco deposited in the mail are subject to seizure and forfeiture,” the rules say. “Senders of nonmailable cigarettes or smokeless tobacco are subject to criminal fines, imprisonment and civil penalties.”
Under the Prevent All Cigarette
“It’s going to cost us a lot of jobs and a lot of revenue, not only on the reservation but in the surrounding communities.” J. C. Seneca, Seneca tribal councillor
Trafficking Act, which Congress passed and President Obama signed earlier this year, the mailing of almost all tobacco products must be banned.
The rules spelled out by the Postal Service, based on that legislation and released last week, provide for only narrow exceptions.
Tobacco companies can ship products to each other “for business purposes,” or to state or federal agen-
cies “for regulatory purposes.”
Adults can infrequently send lightweight tobacco packages to each other, and intrastate shipments within Alaska and Hawaii are allowed.
Tobacco companies can send cigarettes to adults for consumer testing purposes, and federal agencies can ship tobacco products for public health purposes.
The Senecas, who have built big businesses on the sale of tax-free cigarettes through the U. S. mail, do not believe there is any wiggle room in the regulations that would allow them to continue mailing cigarettes.
“Certainly anybody in this business has to be very aware” of the regulations, said J. C. Seneca, a Seneca tribal councillor and co-chairman of the Seneca Nation’s Foreign Relations Committee. “You don’t want to be held to penalties or charges.”
Opponents of the Senecas’ tax-free cigarette sales are happy with the rules.
“The Postal Service is taking this seriously and trying to do what the law says,” said Eric Lindblom, director of policy research at the Campaign for Tobacco- Free Kids.
Lindblom said he was particularly encouraged that rules allow only a very narrow loophole allowing individuals to mail small quantities of tobacco to each other.
Under the rules, anyone receiving such a package will have to go to a post office to pick it up—meaning postal officials will be able to tell if that person is old enough to buy cigarettes.
In addition to banning the mailing of most tobacco products, the new law requires online cigarette sellers to:
• Pay all federal, state, local or tribal tobacco taxes and affix tax stamps before delivering any tobacco products to any customer.
• Register with the state where they are based and make periodic reports to state tax-collection officials.
• Check the age and ID of customers when they purchase tobacco and when the tobacco products are delivered.
Seneca said the Postal Service regulations are one of several steps that have to take place as the law is implemented. The Department of Justice and its Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also are involved.
Meanwhile, the Seneca Nation Council has authorized $250,000 in funding to the Seneca Free Trade Association to pursue legal action aimed at stopping the law from being implemented, Seneca said.
With any legal action in its formative stages, the Senecas are bracing for a radical change to an industry that has made some of its tribal entrepreneurs wealthy, while providing jobs to many others. The tribe at first said its tobacco entrepreneurs employed 1,000, but later, without explanation, boosted that figure to 3,000.
“It’s going to cost us a lot of jobs and a lot of revenue, not only on the reservation but in the surrounding communities,” Seneca said of the new law.
By Jerry Zremski, June 7th, buffalonews.com