Jump to full article: Philippine Star (ph), 2009-11-17
Author: Iris C. Gonzales (The Philippine Star)
Intro: The Bureau of Internal Revenue's plan to provide security stamps on cigarette packs faced another setback as lawmakers yesterday shelved discussions on the controversial tax stamp system on cigarette packaging proposed by Switzerland-based Sicpa Product Security SA (SICPA).
Members of the House committee on ways and means led by Rep. Exequiel Javier (Lone District, Antique) said the project would only mean additional costs to consumers.
As such, the panel approved the motion of Rep. Victor Ortega (1st District, La Union) to close the hearings. The committee also asked the Inter-Agency Investment Coordination Committee (IICC) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the ICC's secretariat to provide the panel with a report on their decisions allowing the BIR to pursue negotiations with Sicpa.
NEDA earlier gave the BIR the green light to pursue negotiations with SICPA after it reviewed the Swiss company's proposal. The BIR had submitted the proposal to NEDA for review.
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