May 3rd, 2012:

http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/higher-tobacco-taxes-could-save-lives/

By Martin Banks – 3rd May 2012

Patricia Reilly

An international group of health economists and tobacco control experts have demanded a “radical increase” in the taxation of all tobacco products.

Speaking at a Brussels conference, they said this was the “most effective” way to make them inaccessible to European consumers.

The demand is one of a series of 15 policy recommendations addressed to the commission and member states by the Pricing Policies and Control of Tobacco in Europe (PPACTE) consortium.
They were unveiled at an event at the permanent representation of Ireland to the EU which brought together council officials, commission representatives and MEPs as well as the tobacco control community.
They also recommend that there be “full alignment” of tax rates so that fine-cut tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes is taxed at the same rate as manufactured cigarettes.
Other recommendations include banning the sale of cigarettes below cost and low-price-based marketing.
The recommendations are timed to coincide with the on-going review of the EU tobacco products directive.

Luke Clancy, director general of the Tobacco Free Research Institute and coordinator of the PPACTE consortium, was among the speakers.

He said, “Through the research surveys that we have conducted, we found that there is a high level of support from European citizens for substantial increases in tobacco taxes particularly if some of the revenue is used for the treatment of tobacco dependence.”

Further comment came from Patricia Reilly, a member of the cabinet of European commissioner for research, innovation and science, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.

He said, “I very much welcome the publication of this research project, which is funded under the commission’s seventh framework programme.

“Reliable scientific data is essential to underpinning effective policy-making, and I am confident that the data published today is a valuable addition to the resources available in this area.”

The project carried out research over a three-year period in order to produce evidence-based policy recommendations to improve market regulation of tobacco products to achieve more effective and equitable control of tobacco use in Europe.

The study concluded that future EU legislation could maximise the potential of taxation to improve tobacco control and thereby reduce deaths from tobacco.

At the launch, former European commissioner for health and consumers, David Byrne, highlighted the urgency of “tackling tobacco as key risk factor for many of the chronic diseases affecting European citizens and our healthcare systems”.

Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable premature death and disease, accounting for some 650,000 premature deaths each year in the EU.

Price and tax measures are recognised by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO) as important instruments for reducing tobacco use, while generating revenue for governments.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/push-to-price-tobacco-out-of-reach/story-fn59niix-1226346279703

HEALTH Department chief Jane Halton has vowed to keep putting up the price of tobacco so it becomes “very unaffordable” and has declared she is on a “global crusade”against the “appalling behaviour of big tobacco”.

Four days before the 2012-13 budget, the secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing appeared to be hinting a tobacco tax rise could be on the way as the government tries to bring the budget back to surplus.

“I’m going to keep putting the price up so it becomes very unaffordable, it is a deliberate part of the weaponry,” she said in a lecture to the University of Canberra’s Centre for Research and Action in Public Health.

Later a spokeswoman for Ms Halton said she was merely stating her department’s desire to use price hikes as one of a suite of measures to control tobacco use.

“There is no suggestion this is part of the budget,” the spokeswoman said.

Ms Halton also told the seminar that persuading former prime minister Kevin Rudd to adopt plain tobacco packaging was one of the easiest policy decisions she’d ever achieved.

Mr Rudd had agreed to encase cigarette packs in drab green packets and remove company logos as soon as the concept was explained to him.

Ms Halton said she had “felt like turning cartwheels around the orange sofas in his office, but decided it wouldn’t be dignified”.

The government is facing a High Court challenge over the plain packaging policy and is fighting other challenges to it through world trade bodies.

Ukraine has taken issue with Australia’s policy through the World Trade Organisation and Ms Halton joked that it was a “well-known trading partner” of Australia, which traded with us “about $37 million worth of, I suspect, vodka made out of potato and tractor parts, but probably not tobacco”.

Accusing tobacco companies of targeting children in developing countries, she lamented the upswing in smoking rates in countries such as India and China.

Attorney-General Nicola Roxon had been accused of taking a nanny state approach to health policy in alcohol and tobacco control and Ms Halton revealed the former health minister felt herself that she was “Nanny Nicola out there delivering a wowser message” when she was promoting her tax on alcopops.

Ms Halton said she told the minister to keep battling because it was a good message.

Consumer Price Indices for March 2012 http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/press_release/press_releases_on_statistics/index.jsp?sID=2933&sSUBID=20572&displayMode=D
*************************************

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (April 23) the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures for March 2012. According to the Composite CPI, overall consumer prices rose by 4.9% in March 2012 over the same month a year earlier, smaller than the average rate of increase in January and February 2012 (5.4%). Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI (i.e. the underlying inflation rate) in March 2012 was 5.6%, also smaller than the average rate of increase in January and February 2012 (6.1%), mainly due to the smaller increases in private housing rentals, the charges for package tours and the prices of cigarettes.

The year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI in March 2012 (4.9%) was larger than the corresponding increase in February 2012 (4.7%). Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rate of increase in the Composite CPI in March 2012 (5.6%) was also larger than that in February 2012 (5.4%). Nonetheless, the February inflation figure was affected by the difference in timing of the Lunar New Year in 2011 and 2012.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the average monthly rate of increase in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from January to March 2012 was 0.4%, the same as that for the 3-month period from December 2011 to February 2012. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the average monthly rate of increase in the Composite CPI for the 3-month period from January to March 2012 was 0.4%, the same as that for the 3-month period from December 2011 to February 2012.

Analysed by sub-index, the year-on-year rates of increase in the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were 4.3%, 5.2% and 5.1% respectively in March 2012, which compared to the average rates of increase of 4.8%, 5.6% and 5.6% respectively in January and February 2012, and 4.2%, 4.9% and 4.7% respectively in February. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the year-on-year rates of increase in the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were 5.6%, 5.8% and 5.4% respectively in March 2012, which compared to the average rates of increase of 5.9%, 6.2% and 5.9% respectively in January and February 2012, and 5.5%, 5.5% and 5.0% respectively in February.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, for the 3-month period from January to March 2012, the average monthly rates of increase in the seasonally adjusted CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were all 0.4%. The corresponding rates of increase for the 3-month period from December 2011 to February 2012 were 0.4%, 0.4% and 0.3%. Netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures, the corresponding average monthly rates of increase in the seasonally adjusted CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) for the 3-month period from January to March 2012 were 0.4%, 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, same as those rates of increase for the 3-month period ended February 2012.

Amongst the various CPI components, year-on-year increases in prices were recorded in March 2012 for food (excluding meals bought away from home) (9.4% in the Composite CPI and 9.9% in the CPI(A)); housing (7.9% in the Composite CPI and 6.6% in the CPI(A)); meals bought away from home (5.9% in the Composite CPI and 6.0% in the CPI(A)); transport (4.3% in the Composite CPI and 4.0% in the CPI(A)); clothing and footwear (4.0% in the Composite CPI and 3.8% in the CPI(A)); miscellaneous goods (3.5% in the Composite CPI and 3.3% in the CPI(A)); miscellaneous services (2.4% in the Composite CPI and 1.1% in the CPI(A)) and alcoholic drinks and tobacco (1.1% in the Composite CPI and 1.2% in the CPI(A)).

On the other hand, year-on-year decrease in prices were recorded in March 2012 for electricity, gas and water (-18.6% in the Composite CPI and -23.6% in the CPI(A), largely as a result of the Government’s electricity charge subsidy) and durable goods (-1.3% in the Composite CPI and -1.4% in the CPI(A)).

In the first quarter of 2012, the Composite CPI rose by 5.2% over a year earlier, while the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) rose by 4.6%, 5.5% and 5.4% respectively. The corresponding increases after netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures were 5.9%, 5.8%, 6.1% and 5.7% respectively.

For the 12 months ended March 2012, the Composite CPI was on average 5.6% higher than in the preceding 12-month period. The respective increases in the CPI(A), CPI(B) and CPI(C) were 5.7%, 5.6% and 5.5%. The corresponding increases after netting out the effects of all Government’s one-off relief measures were 5.8%, 5.9%, 5.9% and 5.7% respectively.

Commentary

A Government spokesman said that the year-on-year rate of underlying consumer price inflation receded further to 5.6% in March 2012, from the average of 6.1% in January and February combined. The latter figure is used for comparison because it avoided the distortions caused by the timing of the Lunar New Year. Slower year-on-year increases were seen across many major CPI components in March, reflecting a rather broad-based easing in price pressures.

The spokesman commented further that, looking ahead, with imported inflation gradually receding upon the peaking of global food and commodity prices last year and with a slowing local economy, inflation should come down further in the period ahead. The Government will continue to closely monitor the inflation situation, particularly its impact on the lower-income people.

Further information

The CPIs and year-on-year rates of change at section level for March 2012 are shown in Table 1. The time series on the year-on-year rates of change in the CPIs before and after removing the effects of one-off measures are shown in Table 2. For discerning the latest trend in consumer prices, it is also useful to look at the changes in the seasonally adjusted CPIs. The corresponding time series on the average monthly rates of change during the latest 3 months for the seasonally adjusted CPIs are shown in Table 3. The rates of change in the original and the seasonally adjusted Composite CPI and the underlying inflation rate are presented graphically in Chart 1.

More detailed CPI data (including year-on-year comparison, month-to-month comparison and seasonally adjusted data series) are available in the monthly reports. Users can download the March 2012 issue of the Monthly Report on the Consumer Price Index free of charge at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/products_and_services/products/publications/statistical_report/prices_household_expenditure/index.jsp).

For enquiries about the CPIs, please contact the Consumer Price Index Section of the C&SD at telephone no. 2805 6403 or e-mail address cpi@censtatd.gov.hk.

Ends/Monday, April 23, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:30