['from', 'C$25,000.', 'It', 'will', 'also', 'increase', 'its', 'controls', 'over', 'the', 'distribution', 'of', 'duty-free', 'tobacco', 'and', 'will', 'increase', 'its', 'enforcement', 'efforts', 'at', 'border', 'points.', 'Tobacco', 'manufacturers', 'said', 'they', 'were', 'considering', 'moving', 'production', 'to', 'the', 'U.S.', 'to', 'continue', 'supplying', 'the', 'export', 'market.', 'RUR-Macdonald', 'Inc.', 'had', 'stopped', 'purchasing', 'tobacco', 'from', 'Canadian', 'farmers', 'as', 'a', 'protest', 'against', 'the', 'tax.', 'An', 'RUR-Macdonald', 'spokesperson', 'was', '“pleased”', 'with', 'the', "government's", 'decision', 'to', 'suspend', 'the', 'tax', 'and', 'will', 'resume', 'negotiations', 'to', 'purchase', 'Canadian', 'tobacco', 'leaf.', 'SOURCE:', 'Dow', 'Johnes,', 'April', '8', 'INTL', 'TOBACCO', 'GIANTS', 'BID', 'FOR', 'STAKE', 'IN', 'CZECH', 'AS', 'TABAK:', 'Bat', 'industries', 'and', 'Rothmans', 'of', 'the', 'U.K.,', 'Seita', 'of', 'France', 'and', 'RJR', 'and', 'Philip', 'Morris', 'of', 'the', 'U.S.', 'are', 'racing', 'to', 'meet', "Friday's", 'deadline', '(4/17)', 'for', 'bids', 'to', 'acquire', '60%', 'stake', 'in', 'Czech', 'tobacco', 'as', 'Tabak', '-', 'the', 'chance', 'to', 'owna', 'near', 'monopoly.', 'Tabak', 'produces', '70%', 'of', "Czechoslovakia's", 'annual', 'consumption', 'of', 'nearly', '30', 'billion', 'cigarettes,', 'for', 'estimated', 'sales', 'of', 'more', 'than', '150', 'million', 'dollars', 'last', 'year.', "Tabak's", 'Slovak', 'counterpart,', 'CSTP', 'Bratislava', 'sold', '31%', 'stake', 'to', 'German', 'tobacco', 'producer', 'Reemtsma', 'last', 'Thursday.', 'SQURCE:', 'Dow', 'Jones', "int'l", 'News,', 'April', '9', '*“*Corporate/Government', 'Affairs***', 'HEALTH', 'AND', 'HUMAN', 'SERVICES', 'SECRETARY', 'LOUIS', 'SULLIVAN', 'OPPOSES', 'USING', 'Secretary', "Sullivan's", 'testimony', 'at', 'the', 'Feb.', '20', 'House', 'Ways', 'and', 'Means', 'Committee', 'hearing', 'to', 'review', 'the', "President's", 'health', 'care', 'refarm', 'package,', 'revealed', 'that', 'he', 'did', 'not', 'believe', 'that', 'it', 'made', 'economic', 'sense', 'to', 'raise', 'taxes', 'in', 'the', 'midst', 'of', 'the', 'current', 'recessionary', 'economic', 'environment.', '~', ':', 'Shortly,', 'the', 'office', 'of', 'the', 'U.S.', 'Trade', 'Representative', 'will', 'announce', 'that', 'certain', 'eligible', 'countries', 'that', 'grow', '“Turkish', 'or', 'Oriental”', 'tobacco', 'will', 'receive', 'duty-free', 'import', 'treatment', 'under', 'the', 'Generalized', 'System', 'of', 'Preferences', '(GSP).', 'Turkey,', 'which', 'supplied', 'nearly', '65%', 'of', 'all', 'U.S.', 'imports', 'of', 'Turkish', 'or', 'Oriental', 'tobacco', 'during', 'the', 'first', 'eleven', 'months', 'of', '1991,', 'is', 'expected', 'to', 'be', 'named', 'an', 'eligible', 'country.', 'After', 'July', '1,', '1992,', 'those', 'imporis', 'could', 'be', 'accorded', 'duty-free', 'import', 'treatment.', 'However,', 'in', 'the', 'Uruguay', 'round', 'of', 'multilateral', 'trade', 'negotiations,', 'the', 'U.S.', 'government', 'may', 'offer', 'to', 'eliminate', 'the', 'import', 'duty', 'on', 'this', 'category', 'for', 'all', 'suppliers.', 'If', 'this', 'occurs,', 'all', 'U.S.', 'import', 'of', 'Oriental', 'tobacco', 'will', 'be', 'free', 'of', 'duty', 'regardless', 'of', 'the', 'source.', 'SOURCE:', 'Washington', 'Report,', 'Feb.', '24/Mike', 'Moore', 'Minnesota', 'Blue', 'Cross', 'and', 'Blue', 'Shield', 'CEO', 'Andy', 'Czajkowski', 'announced', 'a', 'major', 'grass', 'roots', 'campaign', 'to', 'get', 'Minnesota', 'citizens', 'to', 'urge', 'their', 'state', 'legislators', 'to', 'drop', 'a', 'premium', 'tax', 'on', 'Blue', 'Cross/Blue', 'Shield', 'subscribers', 'and', 'instead', 'pay', 'for', 'the', 'costs', 'of', 'the', 'HealthRight', 'health', 'care', 'access', 'proposal', 'with', 'an', 'increase', 'in', 'the', 'state', 'tax', 'on', 'cigarettes', 'of', '11', 'cents,', 'more', 'than', 'twice', 'the', 'nickel', 'tax', 'increase', 'recommended', 'by', 'Gov.', 'Carison.', 'SOURCE:', 'PR', 'Newswire,', 'April', '10', 'co:', '6.', 'Levy', 'aa', ',', 'S.', 'Hutcheson', '(Richmond/R&B)', '68E79L0L02', ' ']