烟草在线据GMA News报道编译　　3月10日，制造好彩牌卷烟的英美烟草公司说，尽管菲律宾提高了烟草产品消费税，但卷烟消费量仍然保持不变。

　　提高烟草产品的所谓罪恶税的提案备受关注，尤其是让北吕宋岛的立法议员们担心，他们说，提高烟税可能意味着烟农的收入因烟草需求减少而下降。

　　但英美烟草菲律宾公司的总经理James Lafferty说：“烟草消费没有受到影响，没有发生任何改变。”

　　他补充说：“市场并没有崩溃，市场还在销售他们的烟草，农民们很好，烟草公司在向菲律宾农民购买烟草。”

　　他说，英美烟草公司每年大约购买360吨烟草，这是它在2012年购买的烟草量的两倍。他还说，在推出较低档的波迈牌卷烟之后，英美烟草公司在2013年取得了“两位数”的增长。

　　他说：“罪恶税已经正式实施，我们现在注意到了自由市场的好处。”英美烟草公司的市场份额大约为1%。

　　与之形成对比的是，菲莫福川烟草公司在2013年12月表示，其2013年的产量下降到了680亿支卷烟，相比之下，2012年的产量为920亿支。

　　它在2013年给菲律宾国税局写信，将其万宝路原味、万宝路金色淡味烟、万宝路薄荷烟和万宝路黑薄荷烟注册为低价类卷烟。

　　菲莫福川公司总裁保罗·赖利在一封信中说，菲莫福川“愿意大大削减公司的利润，推出每包零售价格低于11.5比索的新万宝路产品。菲莫福川烟草公司希望在2014年增产89亿支，而反过来，这将可以帮助国税局从卷烟中征收到更多的税收。”

　　1月，菲律宾国税局局长Kim Jacinto-Henares说，由于1年前提高了烟草产品消费税，政府的税收大幅增长。

　　她当时说：“2013年的目标是通过罪恶产品征税超过330亿比索，而从我们预测的来看，我们的征税情况更好。”

　　在同样的报告中，前卫生大臣Francisco Duque三世说，提高罪恶产品的税率未必就意味着吸烟的人数也减少了。

BAT Philippines: Higher Sin Tax Has Not kept People from Smoking

　　British American Tobacco, makers of Lucky Strike, said Monday that cigarette consumption has remained the same despite an increase in the excise tax on tobacco products.

　　The proposal to raise the so-called sin tax on tobacco products was met with concern, especially from lawmakers from North Luzon who said higher taxes could mean a drop in income for tobacco farmers because of lower demand.

　　But James Lafferty, general manager of BAT Philippines, said "consumption　was not affected, nothing has happened."

　　He added "the market did not fall apart; the market sells all their crop; farmers are fine; the tobacco companies are buying crops from Filipinos farmers."

　　He said BAT buys about 3.6 million kilograms of tobacco a year, twice the volume it bought in 2012. He added the company saw "double-digit" growth in 2013 after the introduction of its lower-tier Pall Mall brand.

　　"Sin tax is formally locked in place and we are now seeing the benefits of free liberal market," he said. BAT's market share is around one percent.

　　In contrast, Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp., said in December 2013 that production volume dropped to 68 billion sticks that year against 92 billion sticks in 2012.

　　It wrote the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 2013 to register its Marlboro Original, Marlboro Gold Lights, Marlboro Menthol, and Marlboro Black Menthol brands in the low-price category.

　　PMFTC president Paul Riley said in his letter that the company was "willing to significantly cut its margins by introducing new Marlboro products with Net Retail Selling Prices (NRSPs) of below P11.50/pack. The company is hoping to get an additional volume of 8.9 billion sticks in 2014 which, in turn, can help the BIR collect more revenues from cigarettes."

　　In January, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares said the government collected a windfall since the excise tax on tobacco products was raised a year ago.

　　"The goal for 2013 is over P33 billion in tax collection from sin products and, from what we predicted, our collection is better," she said then.

　　In the same report, former Health secretary Francisco Duque III said higher taxes on sin products do not necessarily translate to fewer people smoking. Enditem