PHILIPSBURG–Philip Morris Exports (PME) has sounded an alarm about the presence of Marlboro brand cigarettes in St. Maarten that are not from the official distributor for St. Maarten.
On behalf of PME, Gibson and Associates sent a letter recently to local supermarkets, informing them that Prime Distributors is the sole authorised distributor of Philip Morris International (PMI) brands (Marlboro) for the St. Maarten market.
“PME has confirmed the presence in the market of cigarette products bearing the Marlboro trademark [that – Ed.] have reached the St. Maarten market without following PMI’s authorised channels and procedures, therefore not maintaining the proper chain of custody designed for these products,” according to the letter.
In the letter, Gibson and Associates attorney Richard Gibson Jr. said the diversion of fast-moving consumer goods is one of the means used by transactional criminal organisations for money-laundering and other criminal activities.
“PMI maintains the abovementioned chain of custody to counter the effects of diversion of this sort, given that cigarettes are among the highly sensitive products targeted by these kinds of organisations. PMI implements rigorous controls that involve commercialisation channels and distributors to trade goods, in order to ensure that compliance of international trade rules and avoid that its products are used for illicit purposes,” the letter stated.
The supermarket was urged to commercialise Marlboro product brands intended for the St. Maarten market, which are only distributed by Prime Distributors.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79109-exporter-warns-of-marlboro-sales-from-unofficial-sources
View comments
Hide comments