Reacting to a notification issued by CAO Ao Region, NSCN (I-M), published in a section of the local daily prohibiting sale of contraband items like “Tez, Talab, Sunflower, Rum, etc.”, the Mokokchung Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) clarified that tobacco products, including Tez and Talab, were not contraband items.
MCCI, in a statement, pointed out that there were laid down rules to regulate the manufacture and sell of tobacco products, specifically the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA, 2003), and competent authorities to enforce them.
Noting that the NSCN (I-M) in Mokokchung had been seizing these tobacco items and penalising some traders for trading in tobacco products, the MCCI declared that it would not tolerate such highhandedness by anybody when genuine traders dealing in legitimate businesses were victimised.
Stating that the NSCN (I-M) in Mokokchung as well as some police personnel were harassing and extorting traders and transporters from other districts of Nagaland passing through Mokokchung, the trade body demanded that this must be stopped immediately in the interest of maintaining peace and public order.