Tobacco.org

MOH not be obligated to approve importation of tobacco 

BUREAU of Public Health Director Dr. Stevenson Kuartei said the Minister of Health should not be obligated by law to approve any license for the import, sale or distribution of any tobacco product.

"The stand from the Ministry of Health is crystal clear that there should be NO tobacco use in Palau. It is our assigned role to protect health," Kuartei wrote in one of his comments regarding the pending bill creating the Tobacco Control Act of 2007,

Kuartei thanked Delegate Kalistus Ngirturong, chair of the house committee on health, for his interest in trying to get the bill passed.

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• Philip Morris willing to work with Palau on tobacco regulations 

Philip Morris Limited said it supports strong and effective regulation of tobacco products in relation to the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The company said the FCTC provides them an opportunity to work constructively with the government of Palau as regulations are developed.

"We would be happy to meet and further discuss the proposed approach to common health warnings and issues raised in this letter, or any other tobacco-related matters," said Pongsathorn Ansusinha, Philip Morris Manager Government Relations, in a letter to Senator Santy Asanuma.

Ansusinha was in Palau on November 2007 to discuss these issues.

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Sin taxes to help fund SARS work 

The cash-strapped government here has reinstated sin taxes on alcohol and tobacco to help fund SARS infrastructure improvements.

Palau closed its borders to Taiwan in mid-May through June because of fears that the infrastructure of this developing nation would be unable to deal with an outbreak.

Some island governments, though, have turned down sin taxes as new revenue sources because of the belief that new taxes would stunt business and yield less tax revenue.

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