Stop Tobacco Smuggling in the Territories Act of 2013 (H.R. 338; 113th Congress)
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| Full title | To amend title 18, United States Code, to include certain territories and possessions of the United States in the definition of State for the purposes of chapter 114, relating to trafficking in contraband cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. |
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| Introduced in | 113th United States Congress |
| Introduced on | January 22, 2013 |
| Sponsored by | Del. Eni F. H. Faleomavaega (D, AS-0) |
| Number of co-sponsors | 3 |
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| U.S.C. section(s) affected | , |
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The Stop Tobacco Smuggling in the Territories Act of 2013 (H.R. 338) was a bill introduced into the United States House of Representatives in the 113th United States Congress that passed the House with a vote of 421-5. The purpose of the bill is to redefine "state" in the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act of 1978 ("the 1978 Act") to add American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, so that United States laws against tobacco smuggling would apply in those places. The 1978 Act makes it a felony to smuggle cigarettes from one area to another without paying the appropriate taxes. Smugglers trafficking in cigarettes transport cigarettes to jurisdictions with high cigarette taxes, avoid paying the taxes, and then sell the smuggled cigarettes with a large profit margin, while still selling their cigarettes for a cheaper price than those that could be purchased legally.
A similar bill, H.R. 5934, was passed by the House in the 112th United States Congress on November 14, 2012. That bill was also introduced by Rep. Eni Faleomavaega. The bill did not pass in the Senate and therefore died with the end of the 112th Congress.
This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.
The Bill would amend the federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2341) to include American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam in the definition of "state" for purposes of provisions prohibiting trafficking in contraband cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
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