North American Trade Company (NATC) has been granted permission by the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago to challenge the Ministry of Health's decision to violate the Tobacco Control Act. The Chief Justice approved NATC's application, allowing the company to continue operations until the matter is resolved.
North American Trading Company (NATC) is an international tobacco distributor.
In November 2022, authorities carried out a raid on NATC, a company located in the Dabadi Free Trade Zone. Accompanying the customs officials and police were representatives of the Tobacco Control Unit (TCU).
Although there was no search warrant, the company permitted officials to enter their warehouse and fully cooperate with the inspection. No illegal items were found during the search process.
On February 9th, 2023, the company received a notice from the TCU stating that they had violated the Tobacco Control Act and must immediately cease operations until obtaining proper licensing.
The NATC maintains that it has not been engaged in the actual sale or distribution of tobacco products in the local market. It believes that the Free Zone is a jurisdiction separate from the Customs Zone, with its own rules for the movement of goods.
In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Health, NATC stated that the order to cease operations has resulted in significant economic losses amounting to $979,714 USD (approximately 6.74 million RMB). This is because the company had to stop obtaining approved exports and instead export from the Duty-Free Zone at the Intercontinental Commerce Park. Ships bound for Trinidad and Tobago were delayed in loading, causing losses and one of their key suppliers requested a suspension on shipping seven containers to NATC due to concerns that they may be prohibited from further export.
A hearing will be held on April 24th regarding this matter.
Reference list:
A distributor plans to challenge a cease-operations order.
A tobacco distributor has been approved to contest the Ministry of Health in court.
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