Cuban cigar
[12] Following the growth of European colonization in the Caribbean and the expansion of the African slave trade, tobacco became a major commodity shipped to Europe.
Additionally, Spanish settlers were becoming acculturated in Spain (and to the practice of smoking cigars), and many became involved in smuggling operations between trading nations.
[19] Among them are Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, H. Upmann, La Gloria Cubana, Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, and Romeo y Julieta.
Due to an embargo on the import of Cuban cigars by the United States in 1960, difficulties with maintaining the integrity of these brand names arose.
[20] Other prestigious cigar brands formerly made in Cuba include Davidoff and Dunhill, both discontinued there in 1991, but have since moved to other non-Cuban countries.
Cuba counters this trend through a series of exercises in demonstrating authenticity, such as guarantee seals and official government receipts.
The Dominican Republic's similar climate and tradition of cigar export assisted in integrating exiled Cuban producers.
Honduras lags behind its neighbors in cigar production due to sub-par infrastructure, problems controlling the spread of blue mould, and repeated large weather phenomena.
[23] The United States embargo has caused unfavorable market conditions for Cuban cigars versus its Caribbean counterparts,[24] which have worked for over half a century to garner positive reputations and notoriety of their own.
These purchases come with special receipts and customs certificates which guarantee authenticity and allow cigars to be transported legally out of the country.
This stereotype is sometimes used by black Cuban women to their advantage, as they will dress in traditional garb, and walk the streets with a cigar, offering to have their picture taken for a price.
There are currently at least 17 cigar brands being produced both by Cubatabaco in Cuba and completely unrelated non-Cuban manufacturers abroad,[20] including such premium marques as Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, and H. Upmann.
[30] The United States embargo and the nationalization of private property caused many Cuban cigar producers to flee abroad, taking their seed, technique, and trademarks with them.
The 211th section of this article prevents Cuban companies from registering a confiscated trademark in the United States unless the original owner allows it.
The European Union interfered when it deemed the law to be in conflict with TRIPS, and demanded a consultation with the United States through the World Trade Organization.
[36] On 7 February 1962, United States President John F. Kennedy imposed a trade embargo on Cuba to sanction Fidel Castro's communist government.
[39] Due to the inability to import Cuban tobacco leaves, however, most Tampa cigar manufacturers either moved production out of the United States or simply shut down.
[32] The embargo has been a significant roadblock in the Cuban government's efforts to advocate for itself in regards to the validity of its trademarks on its various cigar brands that have been duplicated by 'twin' companies abroad.
In the early 2010s, the United States confiscated $26,000 belonging to a Danish man who had been using the funds to buy Cuban cigars from a German seller.
The US Treasury asserted that this interaction was a violation of the embargo, despite the funds being transferred between a Danish citizen and a German distributor, and Cuba not being to any extent involved in that particular transaction.
[41] Despite violation of the embargo having large scale consequences for most, the former secretary of state Henry Kissinger was able to obtain them from Castro during his diplomatic visit in the 1970s.
Despite Kissinger being a non-smoker, customs was prevented from seizing what would have been considered illegal contraband, and the attendant who attempted to do so was reprimanded for trying to take away Castro's gift.
[43] In October 2016, the Federal government liberalized restrictions on the number of cigars that an American can bring back to the U.S. for personal use without having to pay customs taxes.
This was in part an effort to lessen the damage done by the Storm of the Century and the following tropical depression, which had destroyed 60 percent of Cuba's tobacco crop.
As a result, Cuban tobacco exports, which had been cut roughly in half by the agricultural crisis the 1993 weather events had caused, began to recover.
