Tobacco News

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Democratic legislative leaders reached a budget agreement Sunday, which calls for $ 2 billion in new taxes and increasing spending on schools and property tax relief.
The Democrats are relying on a hike in tobacco taxes and the governor of the long-awaited increase in income taxes on high income to pay for new spending. The budget outline scraps proposed sales tax on clothing, but lawmakers continue to consider the revival of at least part of the tax plan criticized enterprise services. Read more

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed legislation to require that New York retailers hide cigarettes from customers has sparked debate beyond his city, all the way to China. Read more

The share of excise taxes on goods gross domestic product (GDP) was decreasing from 1998 to 2010, despite regular excise tax increases in tobacco and alcohol products, data from the National Statistics Office showed coordination.
In his latest column, Sexy Statistics entitled “What is so sinful about sin tax?” NSCB Secretary General Jose Ramon Albert showed that taxes on sin products constitute less than one percent of GDP in 2010, down by half from 2.13 percent in 1998. Read more

Public health activists and officials say the higher cost of tobacco products as a result of the latest state tax increases is creating an effective deterrent for youth.

“That’s going to result in one-third fewer youths using these deadly products,” Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizen’s Health Initiative and a lead lobbyist for the tax hike, said of the cost of the tobacco products. Ream more »

Most MPs backed a law legislating for four cumulative 10 percent annual rises in tobacco tax, though some had doubts about the way it was being done.

The Customs and Excise (Tobacco Products-Budget Measures) Amendment Bill (divided into seven bills), completed its third reading this afternoon.
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Cigarette prices could jump 400 percent under proposals drawn up by the Health and Social Development Ministry in an effort to deter smokers.

The Health and Social Development Ministry has submitted proposals to the government to nearly triple excise taxes on cigarettes from the current 360 rubles ($12) to 1,040 rubles ($34) per thousand sticks next year, Forbes Russia reported Tuesday.
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The cigarette sales volume of the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) has declined significantly since the excise tax hike took effect last month as more smokers shift to rolling their own cigarettes.

The state-owned tobacco manufacturer expects sales will gradually improve and return to normal in the coming months. Ream more »

Eugene Regan (Opinion Analysis, September 7th) writes that a decrease in the price of cigarettes would lead to a reduction in illicit tobacco trade without having a significant effect on the level of smoking in Ireland. This is not the case.
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A Rangitata smoker is bucking tobacco excise tax and growing his own. David Limbe spent a staggering $2.60 on 300 seeds that he recently potted. He hopes to have a bumper harvest come March. The seeds will be separated around Labour Weekend and planted in a plot outdoors. Ream more »

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has spoken out against plans for further tobacco tax increases.
Mr Peters, a known smoker, told a select committee hearing yesterday that higher prices for tobacco products would “thump the pockets” of low-income Maori, the New Zealand Herald reports. Ream more »