Jump to full article: Philippine Star (ph), 2009-11-11
Author: Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star)
Intro: Cigarette manufacturers opposed yesterday the $300-million proposal of Swiss firm SICPA Product Security SA to affix a high-tech, tamper-proof strip stamps on every pack of locally made cigarettes.
Chris Nelson of Philip Morris told the House ways and means committee that the proposal's cost would be borne initially by manufacturers and eventually passed on to consumers.
"This translates to around P.50-P1 increase in cost per pack across the board for all brands - an amount higher than the excise tax increases in 2007, 2009 and 2011 for low, medium and high tax categories," he said.
He said for Philip Morris, the cost of the stamps "translates to around P564 million to P1.1 billion a year."
"For our bigger competitor, Fortune Tobacco, the figure is between P1.6 billion and P3.2 billion a year," he said.
"It is a big blow to companies like ours still reeling from the effects of the global recession. More so the small players," he added.
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