Death Marketing-1

Cig Manufacturers' New Front Group to Influence Upcoming Budget

With demands to create two sub-tiers in the low tier cigarettes (one for domestic brands and one for international ones) or to reposition low-tier international brands into the medium tier, a new front group named Association of Locally Owned Cigarette Manufacturers (ALOCM) is now active in the field. It should be noted that the existing four-tiered ad-valorem tax structure allows consumers to switch to cheaper brands once the price is increased. As a result, preserving quota for domestic brands or adding any tier to the current multi-tiered cigarette tax structure, either of those ideas, as put forth by ALCOM will put additional risk on public health and further complicate tax collection as well as lower government revenues. NBR must ignore such proposals put forth by tobacco companies and push for a single-tiered cigarette taxation structure, a win-win situation for both public health and government revenue.