MORE and more smokers in four countries, including the Philippines, are now finding it acceptable to buy illicit cigarettes, according to a study commissioned by cigarette firm JTI.
While half of the smokers interviewed for the study felt that illicit tobacco trade is a threat to their country, 43 percent of them would be comfortable buying cigarettes that they know to have been produced or sold illegally, said Robert Eugenio, JTI Philippines director for fiscal and regulatory affairs, as he cited the study during the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp. economic forum in Manila yesterday.
In the Philippines, about 33 percent of adult Filipino smokers covered by the study said they would be willing to patronize illegal cigarettes, JTI said.
Eugenio said illicit trade in tobacco is a global problem that world governments need to address before it becomes “normalized.”
The study, Fighting the Dark Underworld, was participated in by adult smokers in France, United Kingdom, Canada and the Philippines.
Eugenio said findings of the study validates the fact that smuggled and non-tax paid cigarettes are being sold openly in stores and other public areas.
“In some areas in Mindanao, eight out of 10 cigarettes sold come from illegal sources,” he said.
Government revenues from the tobacco industry have dramatically fallen from a record high tax collection of P176 billion in 2021 to P135 billion in 2023, which can be partly attributed to rampant tobacco smuggling, according to Eugenio.
Nevertheless, Eugenio lauded Congress for approving the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage bill, which classifies tobacco smuggling as an act of economic sabotage, that can boost the government’s campaign against tobacco illicit trade.
He also cited the recent directive of the President to all government agencies to intensify the fight against the illicit tobacco trade has already provided a strong impetus even before the bill is signed into law.
Aside from a consistent and intensified enforcement of the laws up to prosecution and conviction, he also noted tightened border controls and a re-examination of the country’s excise tax laws as other possible policy considerations.
