Another Great smoke shop Article
An Overview Of Cuban Cigars

This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding cuban cigars. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about cuban cigars.

Cuban cigars are a product that equates directly to quality. The very words evoke images of sophistication and glamour. Alfred Dunhill did not call his book "The Gentle Art of Smoking" for nothing. He understood that cigar smoking is an art form, that provides a sense of contemplation, peace and appreciated pleasure. The sale and importation of fine handmade cigars has risen more 30% annually for the past several years. It's a wonderful, relaxing past time that can be shared with friends male and female.
Cuban cigars on the whole are renowned as the world's best, which would be hotly contested by manufactures in Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua, as well as others.

It's difficult for Americans to judge, since Cuban cigars, as well as other Cuban products, are illegal in the United States and have been since the Cuban embargo in 1962. And, yes, they are still illegal. As recently as 1995 this question was addressed once again. The following letter was sent to the members of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America Inc. from the Department of the Treasury.

"Only persons returning directly from Cuba after a licensed visit there are permitted to bring Cuban cigars into the United States, provided the domestic value of such cigars does not exceed 100 U.S. dollars and the cigars are for the person's personal use and not for resale. Inasmuch as all other importations of Cuban cigars are illegal, you must assume that all offers to buy or sell such cigars in the United States involve cigars that are imported illegally. Contrary to what many people believe, it is illegal for travelers to bring into the United States Cuban cigars acquired in third countries (such as Canada, England, or Mexico).

Now that we've covered those aspects of cuban cigars, let's turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

"It is illegal for U.S. persons to buy, sell, trade, give away, or otherwise engage in (or offer to engage in) transactions involving illegally - imported Cuban cigars. The penalties for doing so include, in addition to confiscation of the cigars, civil fines of up to $50,000 per violation and, in appropriate cases, criminal prosecution which may result in imprisonment.

"We recognize that the prohibitions that apply to Cuban cigars may deprive many consumers of a sought-after product. However, these prohibitions apply to all goods of Cuban origin and are an important element of the comprehensive program of economic sanctions against the Cuban government which have been in place since 1963. These sanctions have had the full support of the past seven Administrations and were further tightened by President Clinton in August 1994."

However, Cuban cigars do find their way into the United States. It is estimated that some three to seven million Cuban cigars are smuggled into the country yearly, mostly by business men in their briefcases, military personal, and people returning from vacations to foreign countries.

You can't predict when knowing something extra about cuban cigars will come in handy. If you learned anything new about cuban cigars in this article, you should file the article where you can find it again.

About the Author

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For fine quality cuban cigars go to http://www.cubancigarsplus.com

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The 2007 Import and Export Market for Cigars, Cheroots, and Cigarillos Made with Tobacco in Australia

The 2007 Import and Export Market for Cigars, Cheroots, and Cigarillos Made with Tobacco in Australia
On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco in Australia face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco to Australia? How important is Australia compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco vary from one country of origin to another in Australia? On the supply side, Australia also exports cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco. Which countries receive the most exports from Australia? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers? This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco in Australia. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco for those countries serving Australia via exports, or supplying from Australia via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models. In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where Australia fits into the world market for imported and exported cigars, cheroots, and cigarillos made with tobacco. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for Australia in particular, is estimated using a model which aggregates across over 150 key country markets and projects these to the current year. From there, each country represents a percent of the world market. This market is served from a number of competitive countries of origin. Based on both demand- and supply-side dynamics, market shares by country of origin are then calculated across each country market destination. These shares lead to a volume of import and export values for each country and are aggregated to regional and world totals. In doing so, we are able to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of both the value of each market and the share that Australia is likely to receive this year. From these figures, rankings are calculated to allow managers to prioritize Australia compared to other major country markets. In this way, all the figures provided in this report are forecasts that can be combined with internal information sources for strategic planning purposes.

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FOUR CHARGED IN SMOKE SHOP PROTEST - Globe and Mail

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:05:21 GMT

FOUR CHARGED IN SMOKE SHOP PROTEST
Globe and Mail, Canada - Dec 24, 2007
Ontario Provincial Police have charged four more people in connection with a violent protest over an aboriginal smoke shop in Caledonia earlier this month. ...