煙草在線據《韓國先驅報》報道編譯　　一個執政黨議員提交了一個法案，呼吁提高卷煙稅收以抑制吸煙率。

　　執政黨新國家黨議員李（Lee Man-woo）議員，在7月29日周日提交了法案，呼吁政府改變卷煙稅率結構并根據通貨膨脹率提高價格。

　　李指出，卷煙稅不受通貨膨脹影響，因為多年來政府在操縱價格。在新法案中，所有煙草制造商將需要每年根據消費者價格指數調整的通貨膨脹，來提高他們的價格。

　　李在一份聲明中表示，提高煙草成本，鼓勵吸煙者戒煙并阻止年輕人開始吸煙。他補充道，同時，它將有助于降低與吸煙相關的醫療成本。

　　盡管抽煙率高，但是保持了低廉卷煙價格的首爾政府，被批評不積極努力。自2004年以來，在韓國一包卷煙的價格一直維持在2500韓元(2.1美元)和3000韓元之間，是經合組織成員國中價格最低的國家之一。

　　與此同時，韓國一家領先的外國煙草公司對此舉表示歡迎。英美煙草韓國公司的資深高管Kim Hyoung-min說：“考慮到韓國在近10年內沒有提高煙草消費稅，英美煙草韓國公司完全支持該法案。”

　　評論：

　　如何才能更好的控煙？關于這個問題一直是仁者見仁、智者見智，但歸結起來，很多人都認為還是政府干預最重要。在韓國，國有的壟斷公司KT&G占據領導地位，擁有大約70%的市場份額，隨后是英美煙草公司、菲莫公司和日本煙草。韓國的吸煙率很高，也和該國卷煙價格低廉有關，或許出于對國有煙草公司的保護，韓國已有10年沒有提高煙稅。事實上，受通貨膨脹影響，煙草公司可能正在等待一個合適的提價機會。因此，這次的提稅議案，也將為煙草公司找到了一個提價的理由。

Korea - South: Lawmaker Submits A Bill to Increase Tobacco Price

　　A ruling party lawmaker has submitted a bill calling for tax hikes on cigarettes to curb the smoking rate.

　　Lee Man-woo, a lawmaker with the ruling Saenuri Party, submitted the bill on Sunday calling the government to change its cigarette tax structure and increase the prices in relation to inflation rate.

　　Lee pointed out that the cigarette taxes are not indexed for inflation as the government has been fixing the price for many years. Under the new bill, all tobacco makers would be required to increase their price each year to adjust for inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.

　　Lee said in a statement that increasing the cost of tobacco encourages smokers to quit and discourages young people from taking it up. Also, it will help reduce medical costs related to smoking, he added.

　　The Seoul government, which maintains cheaper cigarette prices despite the high smoking rate, has been criticized for not making aggressive efforts. Since 2004, a packet of cigarettes has stayed between 2,500 won ($2.1) and 3,000 won in Korea, one of the lowest figues OECD nations.

　　Meanwhile, a leading foreign tobacco player in Korea welcomed the move. BAT Korea's senior executive Kim Hyoung-min said, "BAT Korea fully supports the bill considering there has been no tobacco excise increase in Korea for almost ten years." Enditem