The new federal Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act goes into effect today, but last night a federal court granted a temporary restraining order that allows a Seneca Nation mail-order cigarette retailer to to stay in business.

As Patrick Lakamp and Dan Herbeck of the Buffalo News report here:

District Judge Richard J. Arcara granted the motion as part of the retailer’s lawsuit against the U.S. government. The retailer, Red Earth, which does business as Seneca Smokeshop, has asked the court to declare the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act unconstitutional.

Seneca Smokeshop, a 10-year-old business, employs 17 people and sells cigarettes in 46 states. It is owned by Aaron J. Pierce, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians.

The PACT Act, signed by President Obama in March, bans shipping cigarettes, and also requires those selling them on the Internet to pay all taxes, including tribal taxes.

The restraining order – which applies only to the Seneca Smokeshop and Pierce – is in effect for 14 days.

Tribes have vigorously objected to the PACT Act, claiming it’s unconstitutional and a violation of tribal sovereignty. The PACT Act was supported by smoking foes – but also by big tobacco companies.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Aaron J. Pierce, Big tobacco, buffalo post, District Judge Richard J. Arcara, Gwen Florio, Native American news, PACT Act, Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, Seneca Nation, Seneca Smokeshop, Tribal smoke shops, tribal sovereignty

Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder Sr. has sent a letter to President Barack Obama seeking a veto of the PACT (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking) Act.

“If signed into law, the PACT Act will seriously impact the Seneca Nation and the Seneca people,” Snyder writes. “We will be subject to racial profiling for the simple act of mailing a package. We will lose thousands of jobs and important health care support. And most damaging, we will be set back in our journey to self-determination by the very treaty partner that pledged to support and protect us.”

Snyder reminds the president that the bill to ban mail-order cigarettes – which the Seneca Nation contends will cost 1,000 Native and non-Native jobs – was developed without significant consultation with Indian nations, according to this PR Newswire account:

Snyder’s letter comes a day after the U.S. House of Representatives approved the PACT Act, which would prohibit the mailing of tobacco products. The measure, which has been promoted as an anti-smoking tool, especially among minors, will result in the loss of some 3,000 Western New York jobs tied directly and indirectly to the Native American tobacco economy.

In his letter, Snyder also reminded Obama that the bill is in conflict with the U.S. president’s promise to improve relationships between the White House and Native Americans. Obama met with Snyder and other Native American leaders last fall as part of that pledge.

And, he writes, “When I heard you say this at the meeting of tribal leaders in November, I took your word that you would follow through.”

Ouch.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Barry Snyder Sr., buffalo post, Gwen Florio, Native American news, PACT Act, President Barack Obama, Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, Seneca Nation, tribal cigarettes, tribal sovereignty

So says Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder Sr., in this Associated Press story about the recent vote by Congress to ban mail-order cigarettes.

Both the House and Senate have now passed PACT (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking) Act, which goes to President Obama for his signature. He’s expected to sign it today, according to a morning report by NPR.

“This is a sucker punch to our federal treaty rights,” Snyder says. “This is a direct assault on our economy and our people. And it will have a devastating ripple effect on the Western New York economy.”

Tribes say the ban will affect 1,000 jobs – held by both Native and non-Native people:

While numerous tribes sell tobacco products around the country, the Senecas have the most at stake, with dozens of Web sites offering cigarettes at discount prices unaffected by state’s $2.75-per-pack excise tax and 4 percent sales tax.
The post office has been the primary means of delivery since UPS, DHL and FedEx agreed with the New York Attorney General several years ago not to ship cigarettes nationwide.

The western New York tribe’s tobacco business accounts for about half of its $1.1 billion economy, said Snyder, who said tribes around the country and the National Congress of American Indians had rallied in support of the Senecas against the bill.

New York state, and now Congress, have eyed taxes on tribal smoke shops and tribally produced cigarettes as a way to refill tax coffers drained by the recession. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who sponsored the PACT Act, along with Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said New York alone loses as much as $1 billion a year from cigarette tax evasion, according to the AP.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Barry Snyder Sr., buffalo post, Congress, D-N.Y., Gwen Florio, Navajo Nation, PACT Act, President Barack Obama, Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, R-Texas, Rep. Anthony Weiner, Rep. Lamar Smith, Seneca Nation, Tribal cigarette sales, tribal sovereignty

More than 1,000 jobs, held by Native Americans and non-Natives alike, will be lost as a result of the PACT (Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking) Act approved yesterday by the U.S. Senate, according to Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder Sr.

The PACT Act would limit distribution of cigarettes manufactured and sold by tribes by banning mail-order cigarette sales. Its proponents say it would cut down on cigarette smuggling, which hurts states by denying them tax revenue from cigarette sales. (For background, see video above.)

“The PACT Act is being portrayed as a tool to fight cigarette smuggling. In reality, it is about big tobacco protecting market share. This action will result in the death of legitimate, treaty-sanctioned Native American commerce, causing significant economic harm, Snyder says, in this story from the Buffalo (N.Y.) Evening Observer:

“We will not back down. We will pursue an aggressive campaign of outreach and education to inform the voters of Western New York which political leaders stand with the Seneca Nation and those who don’t.”

The Seneca Nation maintains the measure, which has attracted strong support and lobbying efforts from mainstream tobacco corporations, led by Philip Morris, said it is an overt attempt by big cigarette corporations to simply stomp out any market competition.

The Buffalo News reports here that the House is expected to quickly approve the Senate version of the bill.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, cigarette smuggling, Gwen Florio, Native American news, PACT Act, Philip Morris, Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act, Seneca Nation, Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder Jr., U.S. Senate