Contents:

Introduction
Interstate Trade from the States with Low Taxes
Interstate Trade from Indian Reservation
International Trade - Stores Located Out of the USA
SAVINGS COMPARISON
Conclusions

International trade - stores located out of the USA

 Delivery time is between 10 days and 4 weeks. The taste of the cigarettes is different from the American made. 1 carton of Marlboro's costs between $16-23 including shipping. This is much cheaper than at American and tribal-run online stores.

 Safety problem consists of 3 main questions:

   1. Is it legal to order cigarettes at international online stores?

  Regulation of international mail is carried out on the basis of World Post Union (WPU) convention, and according to the convention delivery of cigarettes by mail is legal. At the same time, there is Imported Cigarette Compliance Act of 2000 which pretends to regulate importation of cigarettes.
 There is a difference between importing cigarettes for personal and commercial use. Commercial importers are required by the Federal Trade Commission to properly label packaging of tobacco products in accordance with the Cigarette Labeling and Advertisement Act.

There are four Surgeon General's warning labels that must be placed on each packet. These labels must be rotated on cigarette packing in accordance with a plan filed and approved by the FTC, prior to importation into the U.S.

 BUT THE ABOVE IS NOT APPLICABLE TO THE CUSTOMERS BECAUSE THEY RECEIVE CIGARETTES FOR THEIR PERSONAL USE and your parcel is not a subject to the Imported Cigarette Compliance Act of 2000.

 Summing up previous information we can make a conclusion that it is quite legal to order cigarettes by international mail in a small quantity for personal use.

  2.  Is it necessary to pay taxes at reception of mail from abroad?

In general the answer is yes, but situation never makes it possible. The only governmental body to treat parcels is US Customs. And it doesn't impose payment for parcels for the following reasons:
  a) It needs enormous time for customs to treat small parcels because a few customs officers have to deal with millions of parcels.
  b) The customs is a Federal Institution and it can impose only duty that cannot exceed 3% of cargo’s cost and probably federal excise tax which is $3.90 per carton ($0.39 per pack). And the cost price for preparing necessary documentation for one parcel of 1 carton $20 worth is much higher than $4.50 ($3.90+$0.6) duty recievable.
  c) We've never heared that the customs imposed duty for anybody's parcel.

 3. What is the value of risks involved?

  The only risk is that your parcel (or parcels) won't reach its destination. It may be lost, stolen or confiscated. But all the above has very small influence upon customer, because in majority of cases, the online shop either reships the cigarettes or refunds money back. And moreover, customer can file a back charge with the bank and/or his CC Company to recieve money back.
  In very rare cases confiscations occur because of the wrong application of the Imported Cigarette Compliance Act of 2000. In this case customer gets the letter notification that he can dispute this confiscation. And most important, neither City, nor State can ask the customer to pay taxes (to recover the money tied up you should contact the merchant first of all).

  The next important issue is that US Postal Service (USPS) that delivers international parcels doesn't disclose any information, and moreover it even does not have information about standart packages delivered.
  You may view a brief story about famous international cigarettes store Yesmoke here...

 Summary:
 -  quality is different from American
 -  delivery time is longer

 But
 -  the lowest price
 -  the highest personal safety

previous |  next                                          [top]