<strong>China: Taiwan Lawmakers Speak out against DOH Plan to up Tobacco Prices</strong>

Source from:  The China Post  03/26/2013

Kuomintang lawmaker Su Ching-chuan yesterday recommended lowering the planned NT$20 surcharge increase on a packet of cigarettes to NT$10 instead, while Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Liu Chien-kuo argued that the government ought to provide better data before raising the surcharge.

The Cabinet's Department of Health (DOH) recently said that it plans to increase the tobacco surcharge from NT$20 to NT$40 per packet of cigarettes.

A DOH official said the surcharge should be reviewed once every two years, and that there hasn't been an increase since 2009.

The official went on to say that cigarette prices in Taiwan are far too low, which has contributed to wider use of tobacco among the island's youth; therefore, in order to safeguard the health of the next generation, Taiwan should increase cigarette prices in order to rein in tobacco use.

The official added that changes to the surcharge involve legislative amendments, and that the DOH will write up a draft and submit it to the Legislature as soon as possible.

Su, however, said that a surcharge increase would lead to a decrease in tobacco that is imported legally, whereas smuggled products may see a boost as a result, leading to higher costs in policing efforts.

The lawmaker explained that although cigarette prices in Japan and Singapore are much higher than in Taiwan, the government needs to consider the fact that Taiwanese people on average earn significantly less than the people of those two nations.

Su recommended increasing the surcharge by NT$10 instead, and to increase the amount gradually to NT$20 by 2016, in order to minimize potentially negative effects.

Liu said that there may be a correlation between the amount of smokers and the level of the surcharge, which, if the latter is increased, might lessen the burden on the nation's health insurance fund.

The DOH, however, has only just launched its second-generation health insurance program, Liu said, adding that it would be unwise to increase the tobacco surcharge so soon.

The opposition lawmaker urged the DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion to provide more objective and more scientific data proving the benefits of having a higher tobacco surcharge. Enditem