ISLAMABAD: As it is expected that Finance Minister Asad Umer will present a mini-budget for the remaining months of the current fiscal year during the National Assembly session starting from Tuesday, tobacco advocates are hopefulthatthe third tier oftaxation on tobacco products may be abolished.

They claim that the withdrawal of the third tier taxation would increase the revenue from the tobacco industry by Rs30 billion a year.

`Pakistan Tereek-i-Insaf (PTI) government is the first in the history of Pakistan which has put health in its priorities. Moreover, Imran Khan has been fighting a war against cancer and tobacco is the major reason for the disease.

`We expect that not only the third tier would be abolished but also the tax on cigarettes would be increased. Wesuggest that one per cent of the revenue collected from cigarettes should be spent on the healthcare of the citizens, said National Coordinator for the Coalition for Tobacco Control Pakistan Khurram Hashmi while talking to Dawn.

Before the 2017-18 budget, the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) had suggested increasing the tax on cigarettes and recommended that the minimum tax should be Rs44 (for a pack of 20 cigarettes).

At that time, there were two tiers of tax. But in the 2017-18 budget, the third tier was introduced due to which the tax got reduced to as low as Rs16 per pack.

A few years before the introduction of the third tier, tobacco companies paid Rs114 billion annual tax but after its imposition the tax collection from the sector dropped to Rs79 billion.

Mr Hashmi said the ministry had also written a letter to the finance minister suggesting increasing the tax so it wasexpected that the prices of cigarettes would be increased.

`Being a signatory to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Frameworl( Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), it is our international obligation to increase prices of cigarettes and make it unaffordable for the youth. This is how we can save our youth from different diseases such as cancer,` he said.

Nadeem Iqbal, the head of the Network for Consumer Protection, said the tobacco industry mostly took refuge under the excuse of non-customs paid andillicit trade ofcigarettes.

`The government should abolish the third tier and ensure that non-customs paid cigarettes are not sold in the market.Ifearthatafterabolishingthe third tier the tobacco industry will start complaining thatitisfacinglosses because ofthe illicit trade ofcigarettes.

`So the government should stop the illicit trade and make sure that the tobacco industry contributed not lessthan Rs125 billion to the exchequer annually,` he said.

Technical head of the health ministry`s tobacco control cell Dr Ziauddin told Dawn that the ministry had recently sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance with a request to abolish the third tier of taxation.

`We believe that the minimum tax on a packet of 20 cigarettes should not be less than Rs44. The production of cigarettes has increased in the country by 77pc during the last a few years but the revenue of the government could not go up,` he said.

Dr Zia suggested that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) should introduce a tracing and tracking system to ensure that only legitimate cigarettes were sold in the market. It is also a requirement under the FCTC.

An official of the health ministry said the tobacco industry was very influential due to which recommendations which affected its business were never implemented.