ISLAMABAD, May 24: While government is claiming to have effectively reduced promotion of tobacco in the country, 18.5 per cent students in the federal capital are being offered free cigarettes by tobacco company representatives, reveals a study of World Health Organisation (WHO).

The free distribution of cigarettes among the students is an effective tool used by the tobacco manufacturer as part of grabbing market for their produce, said WHO Representative Shahzad Alam Khan while releasing the data of the survey at the National Press Club (NPC) on Thursday. The distribution of free cigarettes stands at 18.3 per cent among the students in Peshawar, 25.8 per cent in Quetta, 22.8 per cent in Lahore and 26 per cent in Kasur.

In this regard, the WHO recommended to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to do away with the complex excise duty structure in the budget 2012-13 and introduce a new mix of taxes but it should be simple.

“Increasing the price of tobacco via taxation is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco consumption. A price rise of 10 per cent decreases consumption by 4 per cent in high-income countries and by up to 8 per cent in low and middle-income countries,” Mr. Khan said.

After working on different models, this study has proposed that Pakistan should introduce a uniform excise duty on all the brands instead of current tiered structure.

Increase in excise incidence will result in decreasing the sales significantly; however, the revenues will increase, he said adding, such a simple excise duty structure will result in reducing the chances of exploitation by the industry and increase revenues on sustainable basis.

Pakistan has ratified WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which is the first international public treaty. WHO has been advocating for a package of six strategies to control the use of tobacco in Pakistan. These included monitoring, smoke-free policies, cessation, warning, banning ads and raising taxation.

The cigarette market in Pakistan is dominated by lower mid-priced cigarettes which are almost 90 per cent of the market and positioned in lower middle tier of the excise duty structure. Premium market is only 10 per cent whereas there are no brands in lower tier of the excise duty structure.