煙草在線據法新社報道編譯　　11月21日，菲律賓政府在參議院通過一項旨在使數百萬煙民脫離吸煙習慣的法案后說，菲律賓向提高煙酒稅更進一步了。

　　菲律賓財政大臣Cesar Purisima在一份聲明中說，參議院在11月20日晚通過了一項法案，每年通過“罪惡稅”籌集400億比索（合近10億美元）。

　　他還補充說，這項法案“還適度地提高了煙稅和酒稅，以防止青年人和貧困者受到吸煙和過度飲酒的不良影響。”

　　他補充說，根據提議實施的法律，卷煙消費稅將逐步提高，到2016年時達到每包26比索，接近世界衛生組織和世界銀行建議的60%的稅率水平。

　　本身也是煙民的阿基諾總統在簽署將參議院和眾議院的法案合為一體的折中措施成為法律之前，菲律賓眾議院必須通過目前還在審議當中的自己版本的法案。

　　據菲律賓衛生部說，菲律賓人是東南亞煙癮最重的煙民，大約有五分之一的公民平均每天吸15支左右的卷煙。

　　一份國家簡報說，造成這種情況的部分原因是，每包售價平均為27.72比索的卷煙的稅率太低——這是東盟10個成員國中最低的稅率。

　　這份國家簡報還說，將煙稅提高10%將可以在四年內將菲律賓的吸煙者人數減少200萬，并降低與吸煙有關的死亡率。

　　菲律賓參議院的法案還會使菲律賓蒸餾酒的稅率與世界貿易組織的規則相一致，到2015年的時候，將大多數蒸餾酒的消費稅率提高大約50%。

　　去年在美國提起的一項訴訟中，世界貿易組織認定菲律賓對一些國產白酒征收低稅率違反了《關貿總協定》。

Philippines Closer to Tobacco, Alcohol Tax Hike

　　The Philippines has moved closer to raising tobacco and alcohol taxes, the government said on Wednesday after the Senate passed a bill aimed at weaning millions of smokers off the habit.

　　The Senate late Tuesday passed a bill that would raise 40 billion pesos (nearly $1 billion) in "sin taxes" each year, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a statement.

　　It "also provides moderate tax increases to protect the young and the poor from the ill effects of smoking and excessive drinking", he added.

　　Under the proposed law, cigarette excise taxes would be gradually raised to 26 pesos (63 US cents) per pack by 2016, close to the 60 percent tax level recommended by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, he added.

　　The House of Representatives must pass its own version of the bill, now under deliberation, before a compromise measure integrating the Senate and House bills can be signed into law by President Benigno Aquino, himself a smoker.

　　Filipinos are among the heaviest smokers in Southeast Asia with nearly one in five of its citizens smoking an average of around 15 cigarettes per day, according to the department of health.

　　A state briefing paper said this was partly due to the very low taxes on cigarettes, which sell at an average of 27.72 pesos a pack -- the lowest in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

　　Raising tobacco taxes by 10 percent would reduce the number of Filipino smokers by two million within four years and cut smoking-related deaths, it added.

　　The Senate bill would also bring Philippine taxation on distilled spirits into line with World Trade Organization rules, raising the excise tax on most distilled spirits by around 50 percent by 2015.

　　Last year in a complaint filed by the United States, the WTO found the Philippines' lower taxes on some domestically produced spirits had violated the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Enditem