ISLAMABAD - Following the increase in tobacco use in the society, which is also the major cause of health issues, tobacco control activists have demanded of the government to jack up FED on tobacco products.
Currently, an amount of Rs 33 FED is imposed on cigarettes costing less than Rs90 per packet and Rs90 per packet on cigarettes with a price of Rs90 and above. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to which Pakistan is a signatory since 2005, requires signatories to optimally impose a 75% tax on the retail price of cigarette packs. Pakistan has yet to achieve this standard.
Abid Sulehri, Executive Director SDPI, said that the total economic cost of smoking in Pakistan was estimated at Rs143 billion in 2012. He said that according to a 2018 report ‘Global Economic of Smoking-Attributable Diseases’, this includes direct healthcare costs and the costs due to the lost productivity. He added that in order to adjust the inflation rates in the upcoming budget, the government needs to increase the current FED on tobacco products to at least 30 per cent.
By doing so, revenues for the government will increase which can be channelized into health and education program initiatives of the government, he said.
Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq stated that tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death, according to the WHO. She suggested that increasing taxes on tobacco products is an effective measure to control and reduce the consumption of tobacco products. She also showed her support for increasing taxes on tobacco products, including FED and health levy, with periodical adjustments of inflation rates in order to make it less accessible to the youth.
Tobacco control activists urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take up the issue of tobacco use in Pakistan and increase taxes, including FED and health levy, on tobacco products to save the youth from this menace.
Waseem Ahmed, a representative of Social Policy and Development Center (SPDC), said that since June 2019, there is no change in the excise duty rate on cigarettes but prices of cigarettes have increased. He urged the government to increase excise duty rate for the year 2021-2022.