World IN BRIEF : CANADA : War Opens Against Cigarette Smuggling
Canada launched an offensive against rampant cigarette smuggling by lowering its federal tobacco taxes by at least one-third in a bid to eliminate smugglers’ profits. The government also slapped a tax on tobacco exports to further discourage the billion-dollar trade in which duty-free export cigarettes are being smuggled back from the United States by Mohawk natives. Prime Minister Jean Chretien slashed the tax on cigarettes by an initial $5 Canadian a carton and said Ottawa will cut more if Canada’s cash-strapped provinces contribute with cuts of their own.
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