煙草在線據馬來西亞《婆羅洲郵報》報道　　馬來西亞煙草制造商聯合會（CMTM）說，由于執法努力，2012年3月-5月，馬來西亞非法卷煙的比率下降至34.7%，而去年同期為37.3%。

　　馬來西亞煙草制造商聯合會8月5日在一份聲明中說，根據非法卷煙調查的結果，2010年這一比率甚至更高，達到39.7%。

　　“下降趨勢是馬來西亞皇家海關、馬來西亞海事執法機構、國內貿易、合作和消費部、衛生部和馬來西亞皇家警察開展的重大執法行動的積極影響的結果。”

　　“我們相信2012年的這個良好開端，也反映了政府在去年預算中沒有提高卷煙消費稅的決定，如果提稅則可能導致消費者轉向非法煙草產品。”

　　然而，這個巨大的進步正被當地品牌的一種值得警惕的新趨勢所破壞，這些當地品牌以低于法定最低卷煙價格7林吉特的價格非法出售，據信，這些品牌是在印度尼西亞的巴淡島離岸生產的。

　　馬來西亞煙草制造商聯合會的首席執行官Shahrul Azamin Abdullah說，非法卷煙貿易使政府每年損失20億林吉特的煙草消費稅收入。

　　“鑒于馬來西亞非法卷煙的嚴重性，我們呼吁政府在即將到來的2013年預算中采取溫和的卷煙消費稅方案。”

　　他說，適度的消費稅政策，結合加強的執法力度，并且對那些被抓獲制造、運輸和銷售非法卷煙的人實行最高罰款，將是一個打擊非法卷煙發生率的有效的長期戰略。

Malaysia: Enforcement Efforts Reduce Illegal Cigarettes Trade

　　Illegal cigarettes incidence in Malaysia trended downwards to 34.7 per cent for March-May 2012, compared with 37.3 per cent in the same period last year, driven by enforcement efforts, said Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers (CMTM).

　　In a statement yesterday, CMTM said, citing the findings of its Illicit Cigarettes Survey, that incident was even higher in 2010, which reached 39.7 per cent.

　　"The downtrend is the positive impact of the significant enforcement efforts by the Royal Malaysian Customs, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, Ministry of Health and the Royal Malaysia Police.

　　"We believe this promising start to 2012 also reflects the government’s decision of not increasing excise taxes on cigarettes during the last budget, which would have resulted in consumers switching to the illegal tobacco category."

　　However, this tremendous progress has been undermined by the emergence of an alarming new trend of local brands, sold illegally below the mandated minimum cigarette price of RM7 and is believed to be manufactured offshore in Batam, Indonesia, it said.

　　CMTM chief executive officer Shahrul Azamin Abdullah said the illegal cigarette trade deprives the government of RM2 billion annually in lost tobacco excise revenue.

　　"Given the ongoing severity of illegal cigarettes incidence in Malaysia, we have appealed to the government to take a moderate tax approach to cigarette excise in the upcoming Budget 2013."

　　He said a policy of moderate excise tax, combined with an enhanced enforcement efforts and the application of maximum penalties against those caught manufacturing, transporting and selling illegal cigarettes would be an effective long term strategy to fight illegal cigarettes incidence. Enditem