Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation

World Bank Group

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: TOBACCO CONTROL;    TOBACCO USE;    DISEASE;    TOBACCO TAX;    CIGARETTE PRICES;   

RP-ID  :  138257

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Montenegro became a Party to the WHOFramework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2006 and ratifiedthe Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Productsin 2017. Tobacco excise hikes, undertaken in Montenegro in2009-2011, were successful both in fiscal and public healthterms. Revenues from tobacco excises rose from about 4million in 2007 to 44 million euro in 2011. Annual cigarettesales declined from more than 1.5 billion cigarettes in2008-2011 to less than 1 billion cigarettes in 2014 andfurther years. However, in 2013-2016, tobacco exciseincreases were too small to reduce tobacco affordability andtobacco sales, and tobacco revenues did not change much. InAugust 2017, Montenegro adopted an ambitious plan of excisetax increases; however, the tobacco industry responded withseries of hidden actions (forestalling and priceover-shifting) which temporarily reduced tobacco exciserevenue in early 2018. As the next high increase of exciserate was scheduled for January 2018, and at the same time,VAT rate increased from 19 to 21, the industry substantiallyincreased cigarette supply in the second half of 2017 andsharply reduced it in early 2018 as it already had in stockslarge numbers of cigarettes for which excise was paid in2017. The excise revenue substantially increased in late2017, but declined in early 2018 despite the excise rateincrease. The industry organized the media campaign topersuade the government that this revenue decline wasallegedly caused by tax-driven growth in cigarette smuggling(while no rigorous evidence of such growth was presented),and the only way to fight smuggling is the reduction ofcigarette excise. From September 2018, the excise rates werereduced, while they are still higher than those plannedbefore 2017. The plan of annual tobacco excise changes until2025 was already adopted by authorities, but the proposedchanges have rather low potential to reduce the tobaccoconsumption and to increase government revenue. The expectedtotal excise rate in 2025 will be below 90 euro (minimum EUlevel). Montenegro is able to conduct a more aggressive andsuccessful tobacco taxation policy which can both reducetobacco consumption and increase tobacco revenue.