Thailand Okays Bigger Health Warnings on Cigarette Packs

Source from:  Manila Bulletin  07/16/2014

A court in Thailand has given the go-ahead to a new regulation requiring packs of cigarettes sold in the Southeast Asian country to be 85 percent covered with graphic health warnings.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris and more than 1,400 Thai retailers sued, and a court had temporarily suspended the order. But the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the regulation can take effect before a lower court reaches a final verdict in the lawsuit.

The tobacco giant's Thai unit, Philip Morris (Thailand) Ltd., is already facing tax evasion charges over its imports from the Philippines.

Earlier, Thailand's Senate Police Commission asked the National Anti-Corruption Commission to probe the role of some government officials in a 68-billion baht tax evasion case involving PMT.

Senate sub-commission on police affairs chairman Pol. Gen. JongrakChutanond said the sub-commission agreed to ask the NACC to probe and take legal action against government officials who might have aided PMT allegedly evade taxes.

In 2009, the DSI submitted the results of its investigation to the OAG which found that PMT had allegedly under-reported the value of its tobacco imports and underpaid import taxes between 2003 and 2007.

PMT had allegedly declared a cost insurance freight rate for L&M cigarettes imported from the Philippines of only 5.88 baht a packet compared with 16.81 baht reported by other cigarette importers.

PMT also declared a CIF rate on Marlboro cigarettes imported from the Philippines during the same period as only 7.76 baht a packet compared with 27.46 baht reported by other importers.

Philip Morris International Inc. had denied the accusations and vowed to "vigorously defend itself against these meritless charges."

PMI said its declared import prices were in compliance with the World Trade Organization and Thai laws. Enditem