Experts want government to increase price for cigarettes

A government-commissioned report recommends that the Swiss government raise the price for a packet of cigarettes and make people more aware of the health risks of smoking.

A government-commissioned report recommends that the Swiss government raise the price for a packet of cigarettes and make people more aware of the health risks of smoking.

The recommendations are part of a study on smoking and health policies in Switzerland. The study was commissioned by the Federal Health Office and the main findings were presented at a news conference in Lausanne on Tuesday.

The experts call on the government to increase the price of a packet of cigarettes by 20 centimes to SFr4.70 ($3.1).

Such an increase would not only bring Swiss cigarette taxation in line with other European countries but would also significantly improve tax revenues.

The study says that higher taxation on cigarettes was a more effective means of reducing the number of smokers among teenagers.

Should the government aim at reducing the number of young smokers, then such a tax increase on cigarettes would be of crucial importance, the study finds.

Nevertheless, information about the health risks must also be stepped up, the report says.

The Federal Commission on Tobacco Prevention welcomed the recommendations, saying a price increase could help save hundreds of lives. But the tobacco industry said that an increase would punish the 30 percent of the Swiss population who were smoking.

The experts estimate that overall consumption of cigarettes could be reduced by 11 percent within less than a decade if the price for a packet of cigarettes was raised to SFr5.0 ($3.3).

The report further recommends that the public should benefit from higher taxes on cigarettes.

The government could achieve this by lowering social security and welfare payments or by leaving the current value added tax unchanged.


From staff and wire reports.