烟草在线据《柬埔寨日报》报道编译　　世界卫生组织的一名代表9月3日称，柬埔寨的卷烟价格将上涨6%，价格上涨将为该国带来约360万美元的预算收入，使吸烟率降低9%。

　　在金边举行的烟草税收制度研讨会期间，世界卫生组织“无烟项目”的柬埔寨专家Yel Daravuth发言时称，卷烟价格小幅上涨可能是卷烟消费税从10%上涨至20%的结果。

　　Daravuth先生说：“所有调查都显示，降低吸烟率和成为一个更健康的社会的第一步，就是要提高卷烟价格。”他补充说，在实施有关该事项的次级法令后，就要提高价格了。

　　长期以来，健康专家一直呼吁对柬埔寨的烟草业征收更重的卷烟税——柬埔寨是东盟成员国中卷烟税最低的国家——但Daravuth先生认为，世界卫生组织将最终赢得这场斗争。

　　“从1997年起，我一直从事烟草意识和烟草教育工作，直到现在，我们所传达的信息才开始被关注和起作用，”他说。

　　“世界卫生组织此前曾要求提高卷烟税，但也总是说说而已。现在，柬埔寨副总理兼财务部长吉春（Keat Chhon）签署了一个文件，阐明了政府朝着我们的目标努力的职责。而现在，卫生部、财务部与世界卫生组织在一起努力。”

　　在柬埔寨，税务部门只征收卷烟零售价格的20%至25%，这是东盟成员国中仅次于老挝的第二低的税率。

　　东南亚烟草控制联盟负责东南亚烟税项目的项目主管尤利西斯·多罗特奥称，在泰国，税务部门对卷烟总收入征收70%的税收，是东盟成员国中烟税最高的国家，每年约征收19亿美元。

　　多罗特奥先生说，次级禁令中提出的税费改革是微不足道的，但对一个每天有28人死于烟草相关疾病的国家来说，却是很有必要的第一步措施。

　　“请财务部长来探讨这个问题，已经向前迈出了一大步，”多罗特奥先生说，“我们希望烟草征税方式发生较大改变，但我们采取的是缓和的方式，并同意循序渐进地改变，一旦这些都做好准备后，我们就能加大力度推进了。”

Cambodia: Small Cigarette Price Rise to Boost Budget

　　The cost of cigarettes is set to increase by 6 percent, a rise that should inject an estimated $3.6 million into the national budget and reduce cigarette smoking by 9 percent, a World Health Organization (WHO) representative said Tuesday.

　　Speaking on the sidelines of a workshop on tobacco taxation in Phnom Penh, Yel Daravuth, national professional for the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative, said that the minimal increase would be the result of excise on cigarettes rising from 10 percent to 20 percent.

　　"All the research shows that the first step to lowering the prevalence of smoking and becoming a healthier society is to raise the price of cigarettes," Mr. Daravuth said, adding that the rise would come about after a sub-decree on the matter is implemented.

　　Health professionals have long called for Cambodia's tobacco industry to be more heavily taxed—it is the least taxed in Asean—but Mr. Daravuth believes that the WHO is finally winning the battle.

　　"I have been working in tobacco awareness and education since 1997 and only now are we starting to have our message heard and acted upon," he said.

　　"The WHO has previously asked for…increases in tax but it has always been just talk. Now we have a document signed by deputy Prime Minister and Fi-nance MinisterKeat Chhon, which states a government commitment to…work towards our goals. We now have the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and the WHO working together."

　　In Cambodia, between 20 and 25 percent of the cigarette retail price ends up at the tax department, the second-lowest rate in Asean behind Laos.

　　In Thailand, the tax department sees 70 percent of all cigarette in-come, an Asean high and an annual windfall of about $1.9 billion, according to Ulysses Dorotheo, project director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance's Southeast Asia Initiative on Tobacco Tax.

　　Mr. Dorotheo said that the tax reforms proposed in the sub-decree were negligible but a necessary first step in a country where some 28 people die every day from tobacco-related diseases.

　　"It has been a huge step for the Ministry of Finance to come to the table on this issue," Mr. Dorotheo said. "We wanted big changes to the way tobacco is taxed but we have gone softly and agreed to incremental changes and once we get those in place we can push much harder." Enditem