A large part of the Virgin Islands tourist tobacco industry may have been shot down by federal legislation that apparently was aimed elsewhere.
A new federal law makes it illegal to bring American tobacco back into the country if it bears a stamp saying it was originally sold for export only.
"All the American cigarettes sold in the Virgin Islands, as far as we can tell, are 'for export only'" William Westman, chief inspector for U.S. Customs based in St. Thomas, said Monday.
St. Thomas retailer Vinnie Mohanani said he learned of the new law over the weekend when a cruise ship passenger visiting his Vissal Duty Free Shop remarked that it was a shame he couldn't take advantage of the low prices on cigarettes. The visitor had been told on board the ship that he would not be allowed to take American tobacco products back home.
The ban covers sales both on islands and on ship.
Mohanani faxed a letter to Customs in St. Thomas asking if the law applies here.
"We're trying to get it clarified," Westman said, adding that V.I. Customs staff had been on the phone much of the day Monday. "We have our counsel looking at it" as well as management staff in Puerto Rico.
Westman said his office had not been formally notified about the law but "we heard rumblings about it" because "they are strictly enforcing it in Florida."
American cigarettes brought into the territory for resale are exempt from the Internal Revenue Tax and from duty. Westman said the IRT is $2.40 for a carton of small cigarettes and $5.04 per carton of large cigarettes. The duty is 2.8 percent of the value, plus $1.26 per kilo.
The exemptions translate to a savings of about $8 a carton, a difference that makes it easy for V.I. retailers to give tourists a bargain. The territory long ago developed a reputation as a good place to shop for cigarettes.
"This obviously is going to have a very big impact" on the Virgin Islands, Westman said.
Between excise and gross receipts taxes, Mohanani estimated the value of cigarette sales to the V.I. treasury at about $20 million a year. That figure could not be verified with government officials Monday. The Bureau of Economic Development does not keep statistics on tax collections, and calls to the Internal Revenue Bureau were not returned.
Westman said it appears the law was directed at wholesalers bringing large quantities of 'for export only' tobacco back into the country and inadvertently caught tourists in a too-wide net. It is being enforced at points of entry, where disembarking passengers are told to put their cigarettes into bins as they go through Customs, he said. Not even an open pack gets by.
The penalty for ignoring the law is a fine equal to five times the value of the tobacco product or $1,000, whichever is greater.
"I doubt seriously that anyone has been penalized" with a fine, Westman said, but their cigarettes are being confiscated.

The names of four St. John residents have been sent by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to the 23rd Legislature for approval to serve two-year terms on the St. John Coastal Zone Management Commission.
Two current commission members, St. John administrator Julien Harley and Myrah Keating-Smith Clinic manager Marquise Calhoun James, have been named to continue on the panel for another term. The governor named attorney Brion Morrisette to succeed Alline W. Thurlow, and Madaline H. Sewer to succeed Paul Thomas.

Territorial Court Judge Alphonso Andrews last week granted Gov. Charles Turnbull’s request for 60 more days to devise a park plan for government land on Great Pond Bay.
After blocking the exchange of public property at Camp Arawak between the V.I. government and Beal Aerospace on Dec. 15, Andrews gave the administration 60 days to pick a department to come up with a "flexible, comprehensive master plan for the use of the property and structures as a park facility."
Turnbull chose the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation to draft the plan. Commissioner Ira Hobson selected, among others, Raymond "Usie" Richards and Valmy Thomas to sit on the task force.
Late last week, Hobson said the task force had submitted – within the court-ordered deadline — its recommendations to him and he subsequently turned the plan over to Turnbull.
"I wanted to make sure we didn’t let the time line pass," Hobson said. "It’s for him (Turnbull) to reject, accept or alter the plan."
Since the plan was turned in, however, the administration requested an extension from the court. Andrews granted a 60-day extension on Feb. 22, according to Andrews’ law clerk. Neither Hobson nor Turnbull assistant James O’Bryan Jr. could confirm whether Turnbull has seen the plan. The governor left the territory last week to attend the Southern Governors' Conference in Washington, D.C.
"I don’t really want to tell anybody what the plan is before it goes to the governor," Hobson said.
In his order, Andrews stipulated that the plan must include a means of funding and that money collected for the plan must be deposited in a separate account independent from the V.I. government’s general fund.
Hobson conceded that money is the biggest obstacle a future park faces.
"We don’t have money to do this," he said. "However, that doesn’t preclude us from planning it. And that’s what the task force did, they gave us a layout.
"Basically the plan is a good plan. It’s simply a matter of once we have the money it’s doable."
The 14.5 acres, commonly called Camp Arawak, was donated to the people of the Virgin Islands by the late Frank Wiesner in 1974. The deed stipulated that the property, which contains the ruins of a Danish colonial-era great house and other cultural and archeological artifacts, was to be developed into a park.
Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and the government’s cash shortfalls, however, have left the great house in disrepair and the property undeveloped.

A bomb scare at noon Friday called into Tropicana Perfume Shoppe on Main Street caused them to close the doors, according to an employee who did not wish to be identified.
According to an employee of Little Switzerland, located in the A.H. Riise building, that store was ordered to close its doors by police, but "just for a short time," the employee said. She added that Main Street was also closed to traffic during that time.
A spate of bomb scares has plagued the territory this year, starting with two at Cyril E. King Airport, then one in which the entire Crown Bay area was evacuated.
Efforts to contact police as of press time were not successful.

If plans work out, the Virgin Islands will get to hear the sound track album and watch the video of "Speaking in Strings," the documentary feature film produced by St. Thomian Lilibet Foster that's up for an Academy Award, before anybody else.
The documentary about a flamboyant violinist was shown on St. Thomas on Feb. 11 as part of the premiere Virgin Islands International Film and Video Festival at the Reichhold Center for the Arts.
To capitalize on the Oscar nomination, a first-ever distinction for a Virgin Islander, festival coordinator Karrl Foster began looking into ways to promote the St. Thomian's work locally. He has arranged for a public showing of the film at the Westin Resort in mid-March and is also seeking to have it shown on St. Croix and brought back to St. Thomas.
And he's working on arrangements to make the Virgin Islands the first place in the United States where the sound track CD and the video version of "Strings" will go on sale.
Although classical musicians, like classical music, often do not appeal to a mass American audience, "There a market for what Foster has done," Karrl, who is unrelated to Lilibet, said. He termed the work "the most passionate documentary I have ever seen."
Violinist Najda Salerno-Sonnenberg is the subject of "Speaking in Strings," produced by Lilibet Foster and directed by Paola di Florio, who grew up with the violinist, early last year. "Nadja is an unusual character, Lilibet says. "She's a classical violinist in a very unusual way." Sonnenberg is controversial because of the dramatic style she employs in performance, a demeanor Lilibet Foster says is not always well received by a conservative classical music culture. The film depicts a year in the musician's life in which a number of significant events take place.
Lilibet Foster, who is co-owner of an independent film company in New York, returned to St. Thomas to present the film and another documentary, "Soul in the Hole," at the festival. She knew then that "Speaking in Strings" had made the so-called "short list" of potential Oscar nominees. Four days later, on Feb. 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees — and she had made the cut.
Foster, the daughter of John and Claire Foster of St. Thomas, says she got the news that day as she was on the telephone making an inquiry about a teaching job at a college in New York. It was "the biggest surprise ever," she recalls.

A St. Thomas resident is in federal custody in connection with the Feb. 19 armed robbery of the Western Union office in downtown St. Thomas.
In a joint announcement Monday, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, V.I. Police and the U.S. Marshal Service said William Hodge Jr., 23, of Vester Gade had been charged with first-degree robbery after his arrest by agents of the V.I. Safe Streets Task Force on Monday morning.
He and an accomplice are alleged to have held up Western Union and robbed two patrons who were conducting a transaction at the time.
The most recent robbery was reported to police by the same employee who reported the Feb. 7 armed robbery of the same Western Union office on Store Tvaer Gade.
At the time of the latest armed holdup, police said two males stormed the establishment and robbed it of $3,400 in cash. In addition, two customers lost jewelry and other personal effects valued at $1,465. Law enforcement sources remained tight-lipped on whether the suspects in the two Western Union robberies are the same.
Hodge was expected to appear before a District Court magistrate jJudge for an advice-of-rights hearing Monday.
The task force appealed to the community to come forward with additional information that could lead to the arrest of the second suspect wanted in the Feb. 19 armed robbery of Western Union.
It is widely speculated that Hodge is related to a principal suspect in the robbery of the Emerald Lady Jewelry Store on Back Street in 1998, an incident that culminated with the fatal shooting of store owner Larry Davis.
The Safe Streets Task Force may be contacted at 776-9440 or at 777-3363.

Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. used a 30-minute appearance on public television's "Behind the Headlines" program Sunday night to explain how his office has stepped up enforcement of the territory's campaign disclosure laws.
Although the law has been on the books for awhile, a lack of funds and a lack of personnel to monitor it has made it difficult to enforce.
However, Abramson told St. Thomas Source Monday he is not going to let lack of money stand in the way of enforcing campaign disclosure laws.
"I am going to use the fines to finance" the enforcement and monitoring of the law, he said.
The Election System is also on the alert for any attempt by political candidates to protect the identity of their contributors.
"We have put in place the mechanisms to assist the elected officials with all scenarios they may face in terms of cash contributions," Abramson told program host Osbert Potter.
"I will not fool myself into believing that we can track every cash contribution," he admitted. He said the success of the law will depend on elected officials remaining honest.
Abramson said he hopes every elected official will want to comply with the law, if only to avoid the negative publicity that violation could generate. "They should do all possible to remain in compliance."
All elected officials are required to file disclosure statements semi-annually. Abramson said all but four senators were late filing in December 1999.
The four who did comply were Sens. Norman Jno Baptiste, Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David and George Goodwin.
The fines, which were signed into law in December, are $10 per day for every day the statements are not filed.
The next filing will be due June 30.
One area of concentration is anonymous cash contributions. "These contributions cannot and should not be used," Abramson said, noting that candidates cannot say where anonymous donations have come from, "therefore, they shouldn't use the money."
Defining an anonymous contribution Abramson said, "That's when you come to work and meet an envelope under the door and you don't know who put it there."
He said his experience working at the Legislature made him believe that scenario could happen.
The maximum amount that can be contributed by any one person to any one candidate per year cannot exceed $1,000.
In attempting to downplay suggestions that the system is enforcing campaign disclosure laws rather suddenly, Abramson said the law had been around since 1990, but was never funded. The system received limited funds in 1997 and has been enforcing it since. In 1997, Abramson said, he asked the Legislature for $100,000 to monitor and enforce campaign disclosure laws. They gave him $20,000.
Though the Election System of the Virgin Islands has an annual appropriation of about $800,000, Abramson is not allowed to use any of that money for disclosure work. The Election System Board passed a resolution in 1995 saying no money could be used from the general budget that wasn't specifically earmarked for disclosure enforcement and monitoring.
Part of the bill that became law last December will require all public officials to submit an audited financial statement at the end of 2000 showing exactly how campaign contributions were used.
Reports must include non-monetary contributions, too, according to Abramson.
However, Abramson told Potter, "There is not much you can do with enforcement until the funds are there to support it."

Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. used a thirty-minute appearance on public television's Behind the Headlines program Sunday night to explain how and his office has stepped up enforcement of the territory's campaign disclosure laws.
Although the law has been on the books for awhile, a lack of funds and a lack of personnel to monitor it has made compliance difficult to enforce.
However, Abramson told St. Thomas Source Monday he is not going to let lack of money stand in the way of enforcing campaign disclosure laws.
"I am going to use the fines to finance" the enforcement and monitoring of the law.
The Election System also has its eyes open to any attempt by political candidates to protect the identity of their contributors.
"We have put in place the mechanisms to assist the elected officials with all scenarios they may face in terms of cash contributions," Abramson told program host Osbert Potter.
"I will not fool myself into believing that we can track every cash contribution."
he admitted, but said the success of the law will depend on elected officials
remaining honest. Abramson said he is hopeful that every elected official will want to comply with the law to avoid the negative publicity that violation of the law could generate. "They should do all possible to remain in compliance."
All elected officials are required to file disclosure statements semi-annually. Abramson said all but four senators were late filing in December of 1999.
The four who did comply were Sens. Norman Jno Baptiste, Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David and George Goodwin.
The fines, which were signed into law in December, are $10 per day for every day the statements are not filed.
The next filing will be due June 30.
One area of concentration is anonymous cash contributions.
"These contributions cannot and should not be used," Abramson said, noting that candidates cannot say where anonymous donations have come from, "therefore, they shouldn't use the money."
Defining an anonymous contribution Abramson said, "That's when you come to work and meet an envelope under the door and you don't know who put it there."
Abramson said his experience working at the Legislature made him believe that scenario could happen.
The maximum amount that can be contributed by any one person to any one candidate per year cannot exceed $1000, according to existing law.
In attempting to downplay suggestions that the system is suddenly enforcing campaign disclosure laws, Abramson said the law has been around since 1990, but was never funded. The system received limited funds in 1997 and has been enforcing its provisions since. Abramson said at that time he asked the Legislature for $100,000 to monitor and enforce campaign disclosure laws. They gave him $20,000.
Though the Election System of the Virgin Islands has an annual appropriation of about $800,000 Abramson is not allowed to use any of that money for disclosure work. The Election System Board passed a resolution in 1995 saying no money could be used from the general budget that wasn't specifically earmarked for disclosure enforcement and monitoring.
Part of the bill that was signed into law last December will require all public officials to submit an audited financial statement at the end of 2000 showing exactly how campaign contributions were used. Reports must include non-monetary contributions, too, according to Abramson.
However, Abramson told Potter, "There is not much you can do with enforcement until the funds are there to support it."

Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. used a 30-minute appearance on public television's Behind the Headlines program Sunday night to explain how his office has stepped up enforcement of the territory's campaign-disclosure laws.
Although the law has been on the books for years, a lack of funds and a lack of personnel to monitor it have made compliance difficult to enforce.
However, Abramson told St. Thomas Source on Monday that he is not going to let lack of money stand in the way of enforcing campaign-disclosure laws.
"I am going to use the fines to finance" the enforcement and monitoring of the law, he said.
The Election System also has its eyes open to any attempt by political candidates to protect the identity of their contributors.
"We have put in place the mechanisms to assist the elected officials with all scenarios they may face in terms of cash contributions," Abramson told program host Osbert Potter.
"I will not fool myself into believing that we can track every cash contribution,"
he admitted, but he said the success of the law will depend on elected officials
remaining honest.
Abramson said he is hopeful that every elected official will want to comply with the law to avoid the negative publicity that violation of the law could generate. "They should do all possible to remain in compliance."
All elected officials are required to file disclosure statements semi-annually. Abramson said all but four senators were late filing in December 1999.
The four who did comply were Sens. Norman Jn. Baptiste, Lorraine Berry, Roosevelt David and George Goodwin.
The fines, which were signed into law in December, are $10 per day for every day the statements are not filed.
The next filing will be due June 30.
One area of concentration is anonymous cash contributions.
"These contributions cannot and should not be used," Abramson said, noting that candidates cannot say where anonymous donations have come from, so "therefore, they shouldn't use the money."
Defining an anonymous contribution, Abramson said, "That's when you come to work and meet an envelope under the door and you don't know who put it there."
Abramson said his experience working at the Legislature made him believe that scenario could happen.
The maximum amount that any one person can contribute to any one candidate per year cannot exceed $1000, according to existing law.
In attempting to downplay suggestions that the system is suddenly enforcing campaign-disclosure laws, Abramson said the law has been around since 1990, but was never funded. The system received limited funds in 1997 and has been enforcing its provisions since. Abramson said at that time he asked the Legislature for $100,000 to monitor and enforce campaign disclosure laws. Lawmakers gave him $20,000.
Though the Election System of the Virgin Islands has an annual appropriation of about $800,000, Abramson is not allowed to use any of that money for disclosure work. The Election System Board passed a resolution in 1995 saying no money could be used from the general budget that wasn't specifically earmarked for disclosure enforcement and monitoring.
Part of the bill that was signed into law last December will require all public officials to submit an audited financial statement at the end of 2000 showing exactly how campaign contributions were used. Reports must include non-monetary contributions, too, according to Abramson.
However, Abramson told Potter, "There is not much you can do with enforcement until the funds are there to support it."

St. John residents will soon have an opportunity to view "Speaking in Strings," the Academy Award-nominated documentary feature film produced by independent filmmaker Lilibet Foster, a native St. Thomian.
And if plans work out, the whole Virgin Islands will get to hear the sound track album and watch the video before anybody else.
The documentary about a flamboyant violinist was shown on St. Thomas on Feb. 11 as part of the premiere Virgin Islands International Film and Video Festival at the Reichhold Center for the Arts.
To capitalize on the Oscar nomination, a first-ever distinction for a Virgin Islander, festival coordinator Karrl Foster began looking into ways to promote the St. Thomian's work locally. He has arranged for a public showing of the film at the Westin Resort in mid-March and is also seeking to have it shown on St. Croix and brought back to St. Thomas.
And he's working on arrangements to make the Virgin Islands the first place in the United States where the sound track CD and the video version of "Strings" will go on sale.
Although classical musicians, like classical music, often do not appeal to a mass American audience, "There a market for what Foster has done," Karrl, who is unrelated to Lilibet, said. He termed the work "the most passionate documentary I have ever seen."
Violinist Najda Salerno-Sonnenberg is the subject of "Speaking in Strings," produced by Lilibet Foster and directed by Paola di Florio, who grew up with the violinist, early last year. "Nadja is an unusual character, Lilibet says. "She's a classical violinist in a very unusual way." Sonnenberg is controversial because of the dramatic style she employs in performance, a demeanor Lilibet Foster says is not always well received by a conservative classical music culture. The film depicts a year in the musician's life in which a number of significant events take place.
Lilibet Foster, who is co-owner of an independent film company in New York, returned to St. Thomas to present the film and another documentary, "Soul in the Hole," at the festival. She knew then that "Speaking in Strings" had made the so-called "short list" of potential Oscar nominees. Four days later, on Feb. 15, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees — and she had made the cut.
Foster, the daughter of John and Claire Foster of St. Thomas, says she got the news that day as she was on the telephone making an inquiry about a teaching job at a college in New York. It was "the biggest surprise ever," she recalls.