Call for govt to ban duty-free cigarette sales
A group of University of Otago academics went scavenging for empty cigarette packs in four cities and six towns.
All told, they collected 1310 binned packs. 45% of the scavenged ciggies were from Australia, and 16.7% were from China. Brands sold in 11 other countries completed the pile.
All up, 3.2% came from outside the country - meaning lost tax revenue for New Zealand.
From his team’s street sweep, lead researcher Dr Nick Wilson extrapolates that our government misses out on at least $36 million in lost tobacco tax and GST.
Dr Wilson told the government’s Health Research Council (HRC) that one of the major tobacco companies last year reported that duty free sales accounted for 7% of its revenue.
Ban sale of duty-free cigarettes
“The scale of this revenue loss and the health implications are a strong argument for the government to consider ending the sale of duty free tobacco on entry to New Zealand,” Dr Wilson told HRC News.
The Otago academic would also like to see the government remove any duty-free allowance for incoming passengers. Singapore has already instituted such a ban.
The study, carried out by the Univesity of Otago's Department of Public Health, was part of a global study called The International Tobacco Control Project whose full findings have been published in the international journal Tobacco Control.
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Comments and questions5
As much as I love increases in taxes, I agree with the academics. It is not consistent to have duty-free products at all. Scrap duty-free all together.
paying duty is a disaster for public goods - all it does is ramp ups it value as it goes through the system. Cigarettes shouldnt be duty free .. leave everything else though.
From what is printed above one HAS to ask what is Margin of Error ! Seems a very long bow or prejudge outcome, to me. Whilst my gut feeling supports the broad conclusion I cannot see that this survey was withing 'normal' accuracy of academia. Maybe it says more (accurately) about the mix of peoples 'binning' their 'ciggies' in the places from where such academics might have scavenged !
I guess the academics came to their conclusions around a bottle of Pinot Noir. What a double standard? Buy 2 bottles hard alcohol get 1 free. Drive and kill innocents from the southbound lane. Return home drunk and smash your partner and kids bones Is all ok in anglo saxophony. A cigarette bought duty free and smoked in one's backyard may kill or may not kill the smoker only. So what is your problem. Some people do not have enough troubles of their own , feel the urge to constantly interfer is other people's lives. Ban the fast food next, high heels, televisions, computers but keep drinking as your forefathers did in the pubs of mother england.....
To smoke legal bud or tabacco is a personal choice, no one can force a person to quit smoking. But they should be warned about the harmful effects of smoking. I consider the public isn't informed as they should be about these effects. In this way they can take a a smart decision.