The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is actively pursuing a proposal to
achieve federal excise duty (FED) target from cigarette industry by
introducing an interim increase in excise rate on tobacco products
during last quarter (April-June) 2013-14. Sources told Business Recorder here
on Tuesday that the board is working out expected revenue implications
of the changes in the duty structure on cigarettes in the last three
months of 2013-14. In this regard, the board has also consulted two
cigarette manufacturers for revision in the FED slabs of cigarettes.
When contacted, an expert said that as the FBR struggles to meet
the annual tax collection target, it is also contemplating steps to
enhance excise duty collection from the tobacco industry, but it is
quite apprehensive as market dynamics do not support any drastic and
sudden steps.
In the budget 2013-4014, a fully specific two tier duty
structure was introduced by the FBR in consultation with the two large
multinational cigarette manufacturers. It was expected that the steps
would result into 15% increase in the excise duty revenue collection.
But the figures so far show that the revenue collection in absolute
Rupee terms has not touched the desired level.
Market dynamics like excessive hoarding by the traders in the
previous fiscal year had a large impact on the current fiscal's sales
and revenue of the tax compliant tobacco industry. In the fiscal year
2012-13 a total sale of 66.8 billion sticks helped the government mop up
revenue of Rs 61.5 billion as compared to expected revenue of Rs 58.6
billion. Hoarding in April-May 2013 was prompted by strong rumours that
the FBR intended to introduce a heavy excise increase, he added.
Industry sources confirmed that the excessive hoarding led to a
distortion of industry projections for the current fiscal year.
Continuous post-budget off-loading of stocks by the traders thus has
negatively impacted industry volume and the government revenues in FY
2013-14. While introducing two tier specific excise duty structure, the
FBR and the industry based its projections on market consumption and
sale volume of 64 billion sticks for FY 2012-13 & 2013-14. It was
understood then that a predictable duty structure would be better for
the government and industry.
The current excise structure gives full control to the
government as the previous excise structure depended on the
manufacturers to increase prices in order for a raise in excise revenue.
The new structure removes this dependence and gives the government
autonomy to increase excise on its own.
A detailed analysis of the historic trends of tobacco sales and
revenue also suggests that normally the first two quarters post budget
witness lower volumes. These start to pick up towards the third quarter
and near the budget sales jump. The new excise structure has resulted in
7.8% revenue growth during July'13-January'14, despite low volume of
sales. However sales figures show that despite higher tax incidence the
revenue target for excise duty collection will not be met as 2.8 billion
sticks sold in the previous fiscal will lead to lower volumes for the
tax complaint industry in the current year, they said.
The FBR is currently considering a proposal to achieve FED
revenue targets for the cigarette industry, by introducing an interim
increase in excise rate on tobacco products for the last quarter of the
current fiscal year (April 2014) based on the current tax structure.
This proposal may also get a positive response from the tobacco
industry.
Chesterfield Bronze cigarettes.
Another market dynamic that limits FBR option is that sudden and
exorbitant increases in cigarette prices that are higher than general
inflation push consumers to cheaper cigarettes resulting in an increase
in illicit trade. Pakistan has witnessed an increase in the consumption
of illicit brands since last few years. Oxford Economic Report a study
on the tobacco industry in Asia shows that currently with a market share
of 25% in Pakistan, the no-duty paid segment is a serious threat to the
government's objectives; reducing the incidence of smoking and
increasing revenue from the industry.
Economic experts believe that expecting higher revenues from the
legitimate industry, where volumes are not growing, but in fact losing
to illicit trade due to lack of the government enforcement, could impact
the government revenue as consumers will shift to illicit non-duty paid
brands available at a fraction of a price.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Workers at Enfield Borough Council ordered to smoke a minimum of 25 metres away from any council building
Workers at Enfield Borough Council have been left fuming after they
were ordered to smoke a minimum of 25 metres away from any council
building.
An email sent to staff, seen by the Enfield Independent, states that employees can only smoke during authorised breaks.
The move is intended to ensure a smoke-free working environment, but has left a sour taste in the mouths of some staff.
One council worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "This is completely authoritarian by the council against those who want to smoke. I do not understand why they have decided to run with this."
Another said: "The totalitarian stance taken on this is wrong. More than 25m is quite excessive in my opinion and unfair on workers."
The email, sent to staff on January 10, reads: "The council is committed to ensuring that all our workplaces are smoke-free, and all employees and workers have a right to work in a smoke-free environment.
"All employees and workers are required to minimise the effects of their smoke on others whilst at work. Therefore, are not allowed to smoke within a minimum distance of 25m from any council building and are requested to extinguish their cigarettes and dispose of them appropriately."
The email also states that smoking is only permitted when workers are going "to and from work" and during authorised breaks.
It added: "We would like to remind all employees’ and workers that smoking is not permitted during working hours. This applies to all staff irrespective of where they work (in a council building or outdoors, or when driving a vehicle during working hours). Staff wishing to smoke can only do so on the way to and from work and during authorised breaks."
The email concludes by giving website links and phone numbers to stop smoking companies.
An Enfield Council spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to minimising the impact of tobacco smoke on our staff and visitors to our buildings and the communication sent to staff was designed to inform them of our policy with respect to our no smoking at work policy.
"While staff are prohibited from smoking during work hours, we do allow them to smoke, if they wish, during their authorised breaks. Our policy is proportionate, sensible and designed to protect public health."
An email sent to staff, seen by the Enfield Independent, states that employees can only smoke during authorised breaks.
The move is intended to ensure a smoke-free working environment, but has left a sour taste in the mouths of some staff.
One council worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "This is completely authoritarian by the council against those who want to smoke. I do not understand why they have decided to run with this."
Another said: "The totalitarian stance taken on this is wrong. More than 25m is quite excessive in my opinion and unfair on workers."
The email, sent to staff on January 10, reads: "The council is committed to ensuring that all our workplaces are smoke-free, and all employees and workers have a right to work in a smoke-free environment.
"All employees and workers are required to minimise the effects of their smoke on others whilst at work. Therefore, are not allowed to smoke within a minimum distance of 25m from any council building and are requested to extinguish their cigarettes and dispose of them appropriately."
It added: "We would like to remind all employees’ and workers that smoking is not permitted during working hours. This applies to all staff irrespective of where they work (in a council building or outdoors, or when driving a vehicle during working hours). Staff wishing to smoke can only do so on the way to and from work and during authorised breaks."
The email concludes by giving website links and phone numbers to stop smoking companies.
An Enfield Council spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to minimising the impact of tobacco smoke on our staff and visitors to our buildings and the communication sent to staff was designed to inform them of our policy with respect to our no smoking at work policy.
"While staff are prohibited from smoking during work hours, we do allow them to smoke, if they wish, during their authorised breaks. Our policy is proportionate, sensible and designed to protect public health."
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Cigarette Smoking Kills the Third Marlboro Man
Earlier this week it was reported that, for the third time, a
Marlboro Man actor died of a smoking-related disease after spending the
last years of his life speaking “out fiercely about the hazards of smoking.” There’s a biblical principle that underscores the tragic irony of these deaths, and it’s summed up in one Hebrew word.
But first, a little history.
For those not old enough to remember the Marlboro Country ads, let me describe what we saw on our TV screens day and night.
A handsome, strong cowboy—dubbed the Marlboro Man—sat on his majestic horse with an endless panorama of spacious, green fields in the background, known, quite perversely, as “Marlboro Country.” And as he sat astride his horse, he was smoking Marlboro cigarettes—for a time, the best-known product brand in the world.
The message, of course, was clear: You could live in Marlboro Country too!
You could even be like the Marlboro Man himself if you simply puffed away on these cigarettes—sitting on top of the world, the vast wilderness your playground and the cloudless sky the open roof over your home. Breathe deep and inhale the beauty of Marlboro Country!
In truth, the real Marlboro Country is the lung cancer ward in the local hospital, where a little girl watches her daddy breathe his last breath—still smoking through a hole cut in his throat.
I actually wrote about this in a 1999 book called Go and Sin No More with reference to a previous Marlboro Man who died of lung cancer. Now the tally is three actors who believed in their product so much that they endorsed it with their lives and sealed it with their deaths, seeking to warn others before it was too late.
According to a recent AP news report, “When it came to portraying the rugged western outdoorsman who helped transform a pack of filtered cigarettes into the world’s most popular brand, Marlboro Man Eric Lawson was the real deal.
“Ruggedly handsome, the actor could ride a horse through the wide-open spaces of the Southwest, from Texas to Colorado to Arizona or wherever else the Phillip Morris tobacco company sent him to light up while representing a true American icon, the cowboy. And he really did smoke Marlboro cigarettes, as many as three packs a day.
“Lawson was still smoking in 2006 when he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died of the disease at his home in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 10. He was 72.”
The report documents the smoking-related deaths of two other Marlboro men, “Wayne McLaren, a former rodeo rider who died in 1992 of lung cancer that he blamed on his lifelong smoking habit ... and David McLean, who died in 1995 of lung cancer that he also blamed on smoking. He was 73.”
What is the biblical principle that warns about this?
It is found in the Hebrew word acharit (pronounced a-cha-reet; the ch sounds like the Scottish ch in the word “loch”), which is related to the Hebrew word for “back.” It literally means “that which comes after; the after-effects; the final consequences; the end.” L&M Red Label
And the principle is simple: From our normal vantage point, we cannot see someone’s back. We don’t see what comes after. And so, if I tore the back of my suit jacket, leaving an ugly hole, you would never know it if you only saw me from the front. From that angle, I would look fine. But as soon as I walked past you, you would gasp.
Moments ago, everything seemed great. But when you saw my back, the whole picture changed. Instead of looking sharp, I looked sloppy.
And that’s the biblical concept: From our ordinary, human vantage point, we cannot see that which comes after—the final consequences of a matter, the acharit. We do not see our own backs.
We see the pleasure of the moment, the seductive pull of that smiling face or curvaceous body, the promise of a thrill, of satisfaction, of release.
In fact, that’s the power of advertising: Enjoy now; pay later. You want this. You need this. You can’t live without it.
To the contrary, not only can we live without so many of the things that temporarily satisfy our lusts and desires, they are often the very things that will kill us.
The man who destroyed his marriage and lost his family over an adulterous affair realizes too late that it wasn’t worth it.
The teenage girl who lost her virginity to that handsome young man—whom she’s never seen again—realizes too late that it wasn’t worth it, especially when she finds out she contracted an incurable STD.
But first, a little history.
For those not old enough to remember the Marlboro Country ads, let me describe what we saw on our TV screens day and night.
A handsome, strong cowboy—dubbed the Marlboro Man—sat on his majestic horse with an endless panorama of spacious, green fields in the background, known, quite perversely, as “Marlboro Country.” And as he sat astride his horse, he was smoking Marlboro cigarettes—for a time, the best-known product brand in the world.
The message, of course, was clear: You could live in Marlboro Country too!
You could even be like the Marlboro Man himself if you simply puffed away on these cigarettes—sitting on top of the world, the vast wilderness your playground and the cloudless sky the open roof over your home. Breathe deep and inhale the beauty of Marlboro Country!
In truth, the real Marlboro Country is the lung cancer ward in the local hospital, where a little girl watches her daddy breathe his last breath—still smoking through a hole cut in his throat.
I actually wrote about this in a 1999 book called Go and Sin No More with reference to a previous Marlboro Man who died of lung cancer. Now the tally is three actors who believed in their product so much that they endorsed it with their lives and sealed it with their deaths, seeking to warn others before it was too late.
According to a recent AP news report, “When it came to portraying the rugged western outdoorsman who helped transform a pack of filtered cigarettes into the world’s most popular brand, Marlboro Man Eric Lawson was the real deal.
“Ruggedly handsome, the actor could ride a horse through the wide-open spaces of the Southwest, from Texas to Colorado to Arizona or wherever else the Phillip Morris tobacco company sent him to light up while representing a true American icon, the cowboy. And he really did smoke Marlboro cigarettes, as many as three packs a day.
“Lawson was still smoking in 2006 when he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He died of the disease at his home in San Luis Obispo on Jan. 10. He was 72.”
The report documents the smoking-related deaths of two other Marlboro men, “Wayne McLaren, a former rodeo rider who died in 1992 of lung cancer that he blamed on his lifelong smoking habit ... and David McLean, who died in 1995 of lung cancer that he also blamed on smoking. He was 73.”
What is the biblical principle that warns about this?
It is found in the Hebrew word acharit (pronounced a-cha-reet; the ch sounds like the Scottish ch in the word “loch”), which is related to the Hebrew word for “back.” It literally means “that which comes after; the after-effects; the final consequences; the end.” L&M Red Label
And the principle is simple: From our normal vantage point, we cannot see someone’s back. We don’t see what comes after. And so, if I tore the back of my suit jacket, leaving an ugly hole, you would never know it if you only saw me from the front. From that angle, I would look fine. But as soon as I walked past you, you would gasp.
Moments ago, everything seemed great. But when you saw my back, the whole picture changed. Instead of looking sharp, I looked sloppy.
And that’s the biblical concept: From our ordinary, human vantage point, we cannot see that which comes after—the final consequences of a matter, the acharit. We do not see our own backs.
We see the pleasure of the moment, the seductive pull of that smiling face or curvaceous body, the promise of a thrill, of satisfaction, of release.
In fact, that’s the power of advertising: Enjoy now; pay later. You want this. You need this. You can’t live without it.
To the contrary, not only can we live without so many of the things that temporarily satisfy our lusts and desires, they are often the very things that will kill us.
The man who destroyed his marriage and lost his family over an adulterous affair realizes too late that it wasn’t worth it.
The teenage girl who lost her virginity to that handsome young man—whom she’s never seen again—realizes too late that it wasn’t worth it, especially when she finds out she contracted an incurable STD.
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