An anti-smoking foundation yesterday said the government should raise its health surcharge on cigarettes to discourage smoking.
A new NT$20 tobacco health and welfare surcharge per pack will become effective tomorrow, driving up cigarette prices to an average of between NT$50 and NT$70 per pack. John Tung Foundation president Yau Sea-wain (姚思遠), however, said the new cigarette prices in Taiwan are still not low enough to discourage people from smoking.
LOW PRICES
Noting that a pack of cigarettes usually costs around NT$320 in New York and NT$130 in Hong Kong, Yuan said Taiwan still has some of the lowest cigarette prices in the world.
Yuan said that according to a recent survey conducted by the foundation, the higher the price of cigarettes, the more willing local smokers would be to quit.
The survey of 503 valid samples collected showed that 52 percent of those interviewed said that if cigarette prices continue to rise it will discourage them from smoking, while nearly 40 percent said they would be likely to quit if the cost of a pack of cigarettes exceeded NT$100, Yuan said.
HEALTH SURCHARGE
Therefore, the government should amend the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) within the next two years to add a health surcharge of between NT$30 and NT$50 per pack, he said.
The foundation also said the tobacco law should be amended to require graphic warning labels that cover the entire front of cigarette packages instead of the present law that stipulates that only a portion of the pack should bear a warning
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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