Russia to raise tax rate for unfiltered cigarettes by 30%
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《英国医生杂志》
Russia, home to some of the world抯 cheapest cigarettes and most committed smokers, is to risk the wrath of the tobacco industry and raise cigarette taxes by up to 30%.
The excise increase has already been approved in a first reading in the country抯 Duma (lower house) and is expected to take effect on 1 January 2005.
For Russia the move is a radical step, but the traditionally smoker friendly country is starting from an extraordinarily low base.
Domestically produced unfiltered cigarettes, which are popular with many Russians on lower incomes, cost as little as 20 p ($0.35; �0.29) a pack, and an "expensive" pack of Marlboro Lights produced in Russia under licence costs just 60 p.
The reasons for such low prices are low production and labour costs and low tax rates.
Smoking is therefore rife; official figures show that half the country抯 145 million population smokes.
Among men aged 25 to 34 years the rate exceeds 70%, the highest level in the world, and many Russians start smoking at the age of 10 to 12.
Tobacco advertising faces few restrictions, and although smoking in public places is theoretically banned, the ban is hardly ever enforced.
The lack of tobacco control has contributed to the low life expectancy in males (58.6 years), and an estimated 300 000 people die from smoking related diseases every year.
The government says its priority is to wean people off unfiltered cigarettes, which contain extremely high levels of nicotine.
"Unfiltered cigarettes cost less than a ride in the metro," said the deputy finance minister, Mikhail Motorin. "We must stamp out unfiltered cigarettes through economic means."
He also said that Russia wanted to harmonise its excise rates with neighbouring countries: "Excise taxes on tobacco must be raised here because they are much lower than in Europe and in our neighbours Ukraine and Belarus."
The government also wants more tax revenue itself.
It is therefore raising the tax rate for unfiltered cigarettes by 30% and the rate for filtered cigarettes by 17%.
Although the tax increases are swingeing by Russian standards (the annual increase is usually pegged to inflation), the end result will only be a price hike of up to 1 p per packet. Just a quarter of the retail price will be made up of tax.
The tobacco industry is crying foul none the less. It says that many Russian factories are in danger of going under as a result and that big multinationals will benefit at their expense.
Alexei Mitrofanov,?an MP from the nationalist Liberal Democratic party, argues that the move will "mainly hit the poor," who buy the cheaper unfiltered cigarettes.
"This increase is being pushed through in the interests of three major tobacco companies. All of this is lobbying by American companies."(Moscow Andrew Osborn)
The excise increase has already been approved in a first reading in the country抯 Duma (lower house) and is expected to take effect on 1 January 2005.
For Russia the move is a radical step, but the traditionally smoker friendly country is starting from an extraordinarily low base.
Domestically produced unfiltered cigarettes, which are popular with many Russians on lower incomes, cost as little as 20 p ($0.35; �0.29) a pack, and an "expensive" pack of Marlboro Lights produced in Russia under licence costs just 60 p.
The reasons for such low prices are low production and labour costs and low tax rates.
Smoking is therefore rife; official figures show that half the country抯 145 million population smokes.
Among men aged 25 to 34 years the rate exceeds 70%, the highest level in the world, and many Russians start smoking at the age of 10 to 12.
Tobacco advertising faces few restrictions, and although smoking in public places is theoretically banned, the ban is hardly ever enforced.
The lack of tobacco control has contributed to the low life expectancy in males (58.6 years), and an estimated 300 000 people die from smoking related diseases every year.
The government says its priority is to wean people off unfiltered cigarettes, which contain extremely high levels of nicotine.
"Unfiltered cigarettes cost less than a ride in the metro," said the deputy finance minister, Mikhail Motorin. "We must stamp out unfiltered cigarettes through economic means."
He also said that Russia wanted to harmonise its excise rates with neighbouring countries: "Excise taxes on tobacco must be raised here because they are much lower than in Europe and in our neighbours Ukraine and Belarus."
The government also wants more tax revenue itself.
It is therefore raising the tax rate for unfiltered cigarettes by 30% and the rate for filtered cigarettes by 17%.
Although the tax increases are swingeing by Russian standards (the annual increase is usually pegged to inflation), the end result will only be a price hike of up to 1 p per packet. Just a quarter of the retail price will be made up of tax.
The tobacco industry is crying foul none the less. It says that many Russian factories are in danger of going under as a result and that big multinationals will benefit at their expense.
Alexei Mitrofanov,?an MP from the nationalist Liberal Democratic party, argues that the move will "mainly hit the poor," who buy the cheaper unfiltered cigarettes.
"This increase is being pushed through in the interests of three major tobacco companies. All of this is lobbying by American companies."(Moscow Andrew Osborn)