Alan Zimmerman

Professor Alan Zimmerman is a Professor of International Business and Marketing at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island, where he has taught since 1998. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is also a founder of three businesses and is president of Radley Resources, a business to business consulting firm whose clients include American Express and DuPont.¹
Zimmerman is considered an expert in international business. In the past, he has served as an advisor to the US International Trade Commission as well as the Global Intellectual Property Center of the US Chamber of Commerce. The US Chamber of Commerce lists a tobacco company amongst its members.²

Collaboration with Professor Chaudhry

In 2009, Zimmerman collaborated with Professor Peggy Chaudhry to produce a book on counterfeit trade from a business perspective, entitled The Economics of Counterfeit Trade: Governments, Consumers, Pirates and Intellectual Property Rights.
The pair released another book, Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights, in 2013, which “describes successful anti-counterfeiting actions and prescribe measures IPR owners should take to protect their intellectual property.”³
There is no evidence available to suggest the making of these books was financed by the tobacco industry.

JTI-Commissioned Expert

In 2012, tobacco company Japan Tobacco International (JTI) commissioned Zimmerman and Chaudhry to produce a report, which was subsequently submitted as expert advice in support of the company’s submission to the UK Government’s Consultation on plain (standardised) packaging of tobacco products.
The report, The Impact of Plain Packaging on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, argued that plain packaging would incentivise the illicit trade of tobacco products and make it increasingly challenging to enforce adequate regulation to combat illicit trade. The authors also suggested that plain packaging would threaten successful, legitimate business as it would make it difficult for consumers to differentiate between legitimate tobacco products and illicit ones.⁴

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Hiring Independent Experts
• Third Party Techniques