Contraband Tobacco Archives

What Were They Smoking?

In the early 1990s, Canada’s three largest tobacco companies and affiliated transnational corporations were engaged in tobacco smuggling. Canadian governments lost billions of dollars from the illegal cross-border traffic in untaxed tobacco. In 2008 and 2010, these governments reached tobacco-friendly out-of-court settlements with all of the companies involved. Download the Document

Second Bi-National Conference on the Illegal Tobacco Trade

Report and Recommendations of the Second Bi-National Conference on the Illegal Tobacco Trade Click here to access the report and the recommandations of the Second Bi-National Conference on the Illegal Tobacco Trade which was held in Toronto in February 2011. Available presentations from first panel: Analysis of the Manufacturing Sector and its Marketplace “Key Inputs, Ingredients, or Components for...

Contraband Tobacco Brochure (March 2009)

Evidence provided by numerous economic studies, by the World Bank and others, has shown that tobacco taxation can be used not only as scal policy but as effective public health policy as well. Higher taxes encourage smokers to quit, prevent individuals from starting, reduce the number of ex-smokers who return to cigarettes and reduce...

Imperial and Rothmans Admit Guilt in 1990s Cigarette Smuggling Crimes

“Garfield Mahood of the Non-Smokers Rights Association said while he welcomed the fines, ‘justice escapes us’ because none of the executives who presided over the operation went to jail….” “‘There’s no winners in this because the industry has addicted a whole bunch of young people who then became lifetime annuities for these companies…. Over time...

Health Groups Launch Campaign for Action on Tobacco Contraband

Seventy national, provincial and local agencies today called for vigorous federal and provincial action to cut off the supply of tobacco contraband at source. Press release for Project CATCH: the Campaign for Action on Tobacco Contraband Detailed report on Tobacco Smuggling and Contraband: A Deadly Threat to Taxation List of Campaign Endorsers

NSRA/SHAF brochure on tobacco smuggling and contraband in Canada

A detailed brochure that describes the tobacco smuggling and contraband problem in Canada. Download the Document

The prevention of tobacco smuggling in Canada: Proposals from an Expert Panel

Preliminary report from the Montreal workshop (February 2005) Download the Document

Background on the Philip Morris paper trail

On May 23, 1994, the State of Mississippi became the first jurisdiction in the United States to file a civil lawsuit against the tobacco industry for recovery of health costs. This started a trend that eventually forced the American industry to negotiate settlements with all 50 U.S. states. In the negotiations, the State of Minnesota...

Rothmans: Background on Corporate Structure

Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH) is Canada’s second-largest tobaco manufacturer, with factories in Quebec City and Brampton, Ontario. RBH has two shareholders: Rothmans Inc., which owns 60% of the company, and Swiss-based FTR Holding S.A., a branch of the Philip Morris family, which owns the remaining 40%. Philip Morris is the world’s largest tobacco multinational. Unlike...

Rothmans Inc.: Potential Smuggling Liability

On January 17, 2000, a special meeting of shareholders of Rothmans Inc. was held to discuss a plan to restructure the company’s ownership structure. A critical issue has yet to be discussed publicly: the potential liability that may exist for Rothmans as a result of cigarette smuggling into Canada in the early 1990s. The Non-Smokers’...