Illegal Tobacco Trade Not a Priority in Canada

Source from:  tobaccoreporter.com Oct 10, 2008 10/13/2008

Imperial Tobacco Canada said on Wednesday that it was surprised the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, had failed to include the issue of illegal tobacco as one of his priorities when revealing the Conservative's political platform earlier in the week. The company says the Canadian Government is 'losing over $2 billion dollars in tax revenues', and that 'this growing problem continues to have extreme, negative, social impacts'. "Failure for government to prioritize the issue of illegal tobacco sales is driving a highly regulated, heavily taxed, tobacco market to an illegal, unregulated and untaxed free-for-all," said president and CEO, Benjamin Kemball. Meanwhile, a recent study commissioned by Imperial Canada has found that the vast majority of Canadians think the illegal tobacco trade is a problem in Canada. In a note on its website, Imperial Canada said the study had shown that 83 per cent of Canadians believe illegal tobacco sales are a problem, and that 45.2 per cent believe the federal government should take the lead in addressing the sale of illegal tobacco. Enditem