China plans to levy higher tobacco tax  

衛計委：將研究措施推動提高煙草制品稅收和價格

(ECNS) -- China's reform of fiscal and taxation systems presents an historic opportunity to reduce tobacco consumption, said Yao Hongwen, a spokesman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC). 

As the world's largest tobacco producer and consumer, China has more than 300 million smokers, with another 740 million people exposed to second-hand smoke each year.

To improve the public health impact of high tobacco consumption, the NHFPC will work with other government departments to formulate measures to levy higher taxes on tobacco and raise retail prices.

The most effective method of controlling tobacco use worldwide is to increase taxes to up prices, a move also recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), Yao added.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control states that higher taxes on tobacco and more expensive costs for consumers are effective tools to reduce tobacco consumption, which not only lower smoking rates, but also increase fiscal revenues.

Only by having tax account for over 70 percent of tobacco's retail price can effective control over consumption be achieved, the WHO suggests.

From 1993 to 2009, the tax to retail price ratio for tobacco rose from 32 percent to 52 percent in South Africa. Over the same period, sales volumes of cigarettes fell by 30 percent while smoking rates amongst adults dropped from 32 percent to 20.5 percent, according to Yao.

In Brazil, tobacco tax per carton increased by 116 percent and the average price for cigarettes went up by 74 percent from 2006 to 2013. During this time, sales volumes fell by 32 percent and revenues from such taxes increased by 48 percent.