[Intl-tobacco] Singapore: Proposal for Regular Tobacco Tax Increases

[Robert Weissman]

Smoking Control Committee wants tobacco tax raised every quarter -
channelnewsasia.com

 Hasnita A Majid

 July 2, 2003

Bad news for smokers - the island's National Smoking Control Committee
is lobbying the Government to raise tobacco taxes regularly. It has
already gone up twice this year and from the looks of things, cigarette
prices may go up every three months.

The committee feels cigarette prices are still too low. Many are still
puffing away, even though cigarettes now cost about 10  percent more.
For example, a pack which used to cost about $7, now costs almost $8.

And if the smoking control committee has its way, there will be another
hike in three months. The tax on cigarettes has been  increased for
almost every year and this year's increase will not be the last.

The Health Promotion Board said Singapore's tax of about 60 percent of
the retail price was still way below 80 percent in some  countries.
Associate Professor Philip Eng, Head of Smoking Cessation Clinic at the
Singapore General Hospital, said: "We strongly encourage a progressive
rise in tobacco tax rate."

Despite many anti-smoking campaigns, some more gruesome than others, the
committee is convinced that burning a hole in the  pocket of smokers is
the way to go. Shaffuan Yousop, 36, kicked his 24-year habit last November.

Since he stopped smoking, he has saved about $200 a month which he
spends on his children. "A smoker is a smoker but the  increase in tax
will make them think twice," he said.

Choo Lin, Manager of National Smoking Control Programme, said: "A 1999
World Bank study shows a 10 percent increase in  cigarettes (tax)
brought down smoking prevalence by 4 percent. "The WHO study also shows
that tobacco taxation as a deterrence is one of the most significant
ways to stop smoking."

Singapore's national smoking rate has dropped from 20 percent in 1984 to
14 percent two years ago. But the number of young  smokers, especially
among women, had gone up.

Professor Eng added: "We must make sure that tobacco does not gain a
foothold on young people. Twenty years down the road,  it will have
financial implication, health implication. If we don't do anything,
there will be an epidemic of lung cancer here."