Cigarette
company agreement seeks to halt Internet sales
Philip Morris USA has agreed to protocols to reduce illegal sales
of the company's cigarettes over the Internet and through the mails,
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced jointly Thursday
with 36 other attorneys general.
The legal officials said Philip Morris has agreed to cut off shipments
of cigarettes to any direct customers that the attorneys general
find have engaged in illegal Internet or mail order sales.
The company also said it would suspend from any incentive programs
retailers found to be engaged in illegal sales and to reduce the
amount of product made available to direct customers found by the
attorneys general to be engaged in the illegal re-sale of Philip
Morris cigarettes.
Denise Keane, Philip Morris USA executive vice president and general
counsel, said the agreement builds on existing company policies
aimed at preserving the "integrity of our brands and the legitimate
trade channels through which they are sold." "It sets a framework
for continued information sharing with law enforcement and support
of their efforts to eliminate illegal sales of Philip Morris USA
products," Keane said.
Spitzer and the other attorneys general said they agree that the
Internet sale of cigarettes is illegal because sellers are invariably
violating one or several state or federal laws.
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