The Construction of Illicit Tobacco Trade Index
Tobacco smoking costs the lives of at least eight million people annually, and is compounded by the presence of Illicit…
Tobacco is a significant contributor to the rising global burden of non-communicable diseases. Across the world, higher tobacco taxes is shown to save countless of people from diseases and death; and boost government revenues, which can be used to finance universal health coverage and other priorities, with the poorest benefiting the most.
Advancing Tobacco Taxation in Southeast Asia (ATT-SEA) aims to improve tobacco tax implementation and tobacco control interventions in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries by addressing the current knowledge gaps and strengthening research on tobacco tax evasion and illicit tobacco trade in the region. The research studies examine the extent, determinants, impact, and policy measures to combat illicit tobacco.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “illicit tobacco trade” (ITT) as “any practice or conduct prohibited by law and which relates to production, shipment, receipt, possession, distribution, sale or purchase, including any practice or conduct intended to facilitate such activity”, which encourages illegal activities involving tobacco products.
Illicit tobacco thrives in countries with lax law enforcement, weak border control, corruption and bad governance. Contrary to tobacco industry claims, taxes are not the main driver of illicit tobacco trade.
This illegal activity undermines efforts to reduce tobacco use and save lives. By making cheap cigarettes more accessible everywhere (especially in low-income communities), governments lose billions of dollars in tax revenue. This project examines the extent, determinant, impact and policy measures to combat illicit tobacco.
Tobacco smoking costs the lives of at least eight million people annually, and is compounded by the presence of Illicit…
Because of the threat that cigarette smoking poses to global public health, Malaysia signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control…
WHO-FCTC Guidelines encourage parties to the FCTC to eliminate the effect of promotion on the sale of tobacco products by…
Tobacco, the leading cause of some preventable deaths, imposes a heavy burden on countries in terms of public health outcomes…
In Malaysia, addressing illicit cigarette trade has been a priority for the government, implementing necessary laws and regulations to provide…
Singapore presents a good case study of a city-state that has imposed high tobacco taxes with strict law enforcement tackling…
Despite efforts to address tobacco as the leading risk factor driving death and disability across all in the Philippines, government…
Because tobacco taxation reduces cigarette consumption (improving public health outcomes in the process) and contributes to government revenue, the presence…
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