Jump to full article: Expatica.com (nl), 2004-05-14
Intro: According to a report in the Friday edition of Belgium's La Derniere Heure newspaper the Belgian government's recent high-profile plans to crack down on smoking has backfired.
The cornerstone of the plan, unveiled at the beginning of this year, was a hefty increase in the cost of a packet of cigarettes.
But while the move seems to have hit tobacco sales in Belgium, it does not seem to have had much of an effect on the number of people in the country who smoke.
Instead, argues La Derniere Heure, more and more nicotine-addicted Belgians are crossing over the border into neighbouring Luxembourg to stock up on their weekly or monthly fixes.
To support its claim, the newspaper points to official figures that show that 501 million fewer cigarettes were sold in Belgium during the first four months of this year than during the same period in 2003.
In Luxembourg on the other hand cigarette sales have increased by 614 million over the same period.
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