TRADE TALK: News from NATO - March/April 2008
|
||
By Thomas A. Briant, Executive Director, National Association of Tobacco Outlets |
||
|
|
||
This was a major success for NATO, its members, and the entire tobacco industry. Despite trying to reach an agreement between Republicans and Democrats, the continuing threats of presidential vetoes and the unwillingness of Republicans to significantly expand government provided health insurance were the key reasons why the SCHIP bill was not enacted into law. Next, however, the House leadership scheduled another vote to try and override President Bush’s second veto of the SCHIP expansion legislation. Fortunately, the House leaders were unable to muster the two-thirds majority vote to override the President’s second veto of the SCHIP expansion legislation. (The vote was 260 in favor of overriding and 152 against—15 votes short of what was needed.) Moreover, Congressional leaders have indicated that they may consider debating the SCHIP expansion proposal with cigarette and tobacco tax increases even though the program has been extended through March 2009. With the 15-month extension of the SCHIP program now in place, Congress will most likely not pass additional expansion legislation. At the same time, NATO will continue to monitor Congressional actions in the event the SCHIP expansion bill is brought back up for consideration before March of 2009. Save the Dates: April 23-25, 2008!NATO members should mark their new 2008 calendars and plan to attend two major back-to-back events this coming April. The first event is the 2008 NATO Annual Awards Dinner, which will celebrate NATO’s seventh anniversary. As those members who have attended this gala dinner in the past know, the event is a first class affair that is a great way to kick off the 2008 Tobacco Plus Expo trade show. The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel will be the site of this year’s annual dinner. With a number of NATO manufacturer members sponsoring the annual dinner, NATO members will be treated to an evening of cocktails, fine dining and award presentations. With more than 400 representatives from NATO members in attendance, the NATO Annual Awards Dinner is an excellent opportunity for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers to all come together and celebrate NATO’s accomplishments and to honor select NATO members for their extraordinary legislative efforts. This exciting event is open to all NATO members by invitation only, with invitations to be mailed to members in mid-March. For more information about the NATO Annual Awards Dinner, interested parties can call the NATO office at 1-866-869-8888. Immediately following the NATO Annual Awards Dinner, the 2008 Tobacco Plus Expo will open at the Las Vegas Convention Center for two days of retail educational seminars and trade show floor exhibits. The show opens on Thursday, April 24, with two important educational seminars featuring the competitive advantages for tobacco retailers, including category management and a panel on the importance of tobacco accessories to the tobacco retailer. The morning seminars are followed by the opening of the first day of the trade show floor. Then, on Friday, April 25, two more seminars will be presented focusing on how to partner with your wholesaler on new products, technology benefits and inventory programs, plus a business coach will teach attendees how to execute a more effective management plan. Following the Friday morning seminars, the trade show floor will be open again to provide a virtual marketplace of special show deals being offered by exhibitors. One of the best things about the seminars at the upcoming 2008 Tobacco Plus Expo show is that they will be free to NATO members. NATO has made special arrangements to ensure that all NATO retail members can benefit from the important educational seminars without needing to pay the registration fee usually charged to attend the seminars. This is a significant benefit of being a NATO retail member. The trade show seminars will give retailers valuable information and insights about the tobacco categories they sell and tactics to increase the high profit categories that will help improve their bottom line. They will help retailers run their businesses better with improved product mix, better practices, and higher profits. NATO members are strongly encouraged to invest two days to learn from their industry peers and from industry experts and then put those lessons to work back in their stores. NATO members can register to attend the 2008 Tobacco Plus Expo by visiting the show’s web site at www.tobaccoplusexpo.com and clicking “Attendees.” Trade show brochures that will provide more details about attending this exciting annual event are also being mailed to retailers. • Join NATOIf you want help to protect your business, you need to belong to NATO. To join, visit the NATO web site at www.natocentral.org and complete and send in the membership application form that you will find under the “Join NATO” button. |
NATO NEWS: Tax Victory and Upcoming Events
Just before Congress recessed for the Christmas holiday, Congressional Republicans and Democrats negotiated an agreement to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for 15 months to March 31, 2009 without raising the federal excise tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products.