The 2007 LAW Convention was very successful and everyone seemed to enjoy taking a cruise Cozumel, Mexico! The convention was held aboard the Carnival Fantasy Cruise Ship on December 6-10, 2007.
The convention began with a welcome reception on Thursday evening, where everyone received a beach towel as a welcome gift, sponsored by Conwood Sales Co. All attendees also received an on-board credit, which was sponsored by RJ Reynolds.
Our keynote speaker at the convention was Nik Modi with UBS Investment Research. Mr. Modi works in the consumer group of UBS, specializing in coverage of tobacco companies.
Nik Modi spoke about demographic changes and the pace of change in tobacco consumption in the United States. He discussed FDA regulation and excise taxes. Other topics that were discussed were: the increasing growth in consumption of Smokeless Tobacco, the effect of positioning in retail stores, brand loyalty, and tobacco pricing in the U.S. Thank you to our speaker sponsor, Altria.
On Friday, David Tatman gave a legislative update. He noted that we had a very successful session in 2007. We passed SB 255, which dealt with tobacco tax discounts to out-of-state wholesale tobacco dealers. HB 579 dealt with fire safe cigarettes and we amended it to protect the wholesalers. It will not be effective until 2009. HB 271 was heard in committee but the committee deferred the legislation. This bill dealt with excise tax on moist snuff. David Tatman also noted that there will be 2 special sessions in 2008 before the regular session. The first special session will deal with ethics and the second will deal with taxes. The first special session begins on February 10, 2008.
On Friday and Saturday night, all attendees received gifts in their rooms. Friday night gifts were sponsored by Altadis USA and the gifts on Saturday night were sponsored by Lorillard Tobacco Co. On Saturday, the ship docked in Cozumel, where some people did excursions, some people went to the beach, and some people went shopping. The weather was great, and pretty warm for December!
Our closing reception on Sunday evening was sponsored by US Smokeless Tobacco Co. Thanks again to our sponsors and to everyone who attended the convention. Membership involvement is key to keeping our organization strong and continuing to protect our industry. We look forward to seeing you again next year!
