Dienas bizness
December 11, 2001

by Sandra Diezina

Contraband Cigarette Consignments Burn

Photo (by Ritvars Skuja, Db): Man throwing cartons of Benson&Hedges, Marlboro and Marlboro Lights into open furnace.

Caption text: Latvian officials, foreign ambassadors and business representatives acknowledged yesterday's public demonstration of the destruction of contraband cigarettes, organized by the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), as a signal to the rest of the world of Latvia's ability to ensure rule of law by fighting the contraband trade.

The event marked the beginning of the destruction of 25 million contraband cigarettes, to be completed within the next four to seven days. CIPR notes the creation of a new procedural precedent that will allow for expedited and simplified destruction of counterfeit goods, thus improving the effectiveness of the fight against large flows of illegal products through Latvia.