Thu, Sep 9, 2010
Tobacco Reporter Magazine Content:
Illicit trade earns hard currency
Mar 9, 2010—North Korea was able to generate hard currency last year by re-exporting cigarettes, despite renewed efforts by the international community to apply tougher sanctions on the state, according to a story by Tom Mitchell and Pan Kwan Yuk for the Financial Times.
North Korean and other Asian traders were said to have started re-exporting State Express 555 cigarettes, manufactured by British American Tobacco, in February last year, shortly before a North Korea nuclear test prompted the United Nations to impose tougher sanctions on Pyongyang.
The US, Japan, Australia and Canada banned a broad range of tobacco products but the EU and Singapore banned only cigars, which allowed BAT to continue exporting cigarettes to North Korea.
BAT said it halted exports of the cigarettes from Singapore to North Korea after discovering a diverted cargo in August.
Mar 9, 2010—North Korea was able to generate hard currency last year by re-exporting cigarettes, despite renewed efforts by the international community to apply tougher sanctions on the state, according to a story by Tom Mitchell and Pan Kwan Yuk for the Financial Times.
North Korean and other Asian traders were said to have started re-exporting State Express 555 cigarettes, manufactured by British American Tobacco, in February last year, shortly before a North Korea nuclear test prompted the United Nations to impose tougher sanctions on Pyongyang.
The US, Japan, Australia and Canada banned a broad range of tobacco products but the EU and Singapore banned only cigars, which allowed BAT to continue exporting cigarettes to North Korea.
BAT said it halted exports of the cigarettes from Singapore to North Korea after discovering a diverted cargo in August.
   |
 |
