烟草在线据法新社报道编译　　11月21日，菲律宾政府在参议院通过一项旨在使数百万烟民脱离吸烟习惯的法案后说，菲律宾向提高烟酒税更进一步了。

　　菲律宾财政大臣Cesar Purisima在一份声明中说，参议院在11月20日晚通过了一项法案，每年通过“罪恶税”筹集400亿比索（合近10亿美元）。

　　他还补充说，这项法案“还适度地提高了烟税和酒税，以防止青年人和贫困者受到吸烟和过度饮酒的不良影响。”

　　他补充说，根据提议实施的法律，卷烟消费税将逐步提高，到2016年时达到每包26比索，接近世界卫生组织和世界银行建议的60%的税率水平。

　　本身也是烟民的阿基诺总统在签署将参议院和众议院的法案合为一体的折中措施成为法律之前，菲律宾众议院必须通过目前还在审议当中的自己版本的法案。

　　据菲律宾卫生部说，菲律宾人是东南亚烟瘾最重的烟民，大约有五分之一的公民平均每天吸15支左右的卷烟。

　　一份国家简报说，造成这种情况的部分原因是，每包售价平均为27.72比索的卷烟的税率太低——这是东盟10个成员国中最低的税率。

　　这份国家简报还说，将烟税提高10%将可以在四年内将菲律宾的吸烟者人数减少200万，并降低与吸烟有关的死亡率。

　　菲律宾参议院的法案还会使菲律宾蒸馏酒的税率与世界贸易组织的规则相一致，到2015年的时候，将大多数蒸馏酒的消费税率提高大约50%。

　　去年在美国提起的一项诉讼中，世界贸易组织认定菲律宾对一些国产白酒征收低税率违反了《关贸总协定》。

Philippines Closer to Tobacco, Alcohol Tax Hike

　　The Philippines has moved closer to raising tobacco and alcohol taxes, the government said on Wednesday after the Senate passed a bill aimed at weaning millions of smokers off the habit.

　　The Senate late Tuesday passed a bill that would raise 40 billion pesos (nearly $1 billion) in "sin taxes" each year, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement.

　　It "also provides moderate tax increases to protect the young and the poor from the ill effects of smoking and excessive drinking", he added.

　　Under the proposed law, cigarette excise taxes would be gradually raised to 26 pesos (63 US cents) per pack by 2016, close to the 60 percent tax level recommended by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, he added.

　　The House of Representatives must pass its own version of the bill, now under deliberation, before a compromise measure integrating the Senate and House bills can be signed into law by President Benigno Aquino, himself a smoker.

　　Filipinos are among the heaviest smokers in Southeast Asia with nearly one in five of its citizens smoking an average of around 15 cigarettes per day, according to the department of health.

　　A state briefing paper said this was partly due to the very low taxes on cigarettes, which sell at an average of 27.72 pesos a pack -- the lowest in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

　　Raising tobacco taxes by 10 percent would reduce the number of Filipino smokers by two million within four years and cut smoking-related deaths, it added.

　　The Senate bill would also bring Philippine taxation on distilled spirits into line with World Trade Organization rules, raising the excise tax on most distilled spirits by around 50 percent by 2015.

　　Last year in a complaint filed by the United States, the WTO found the Philippines' lower taxes on some domestically produced spirits had violated the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Enditem