Tobacco producers wait for new Government to set cigarette prices for next year

Cigarette producers in Romania will make a decision on the price of cigarettes in 2017 once the new Government is installed, said Gilda Lazar, JTI director of communications for Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria. “The future price of cigarettes will largely depend on the tax regime, but also on the evolution of the regulatory framework," Lazar explained, according to local News.ro. The price of cigarettes is strongly dependent the taxes imposed by the state. The excise duty and the VAT rate represent 75-80% of the price of a pack of cigarettes in Romania. The VAT rate will drop by 1%, but for cigarettes, this decline will be offset by an increase in the excise duty starting 1 January, the JTI director of communications said. The excise duty will then readjust in April based on inflation. “For now, we are waiting for the new Government, and its governing program,” Lazar said. Tobacco producers consider that 2016 has been a difficult year in Romania due to legislative unpredictability. Romania banned smoking in enclosed public spaces in March and a series of changes that affected tobacco and cigarette producers were also voted this year. Health minister Vlad Voiculescu warned on Wednesday morning in a Facebook status that the new Parliament aimed to change the law banning smoking in enclosed public spaces. In March this year, Romania banned smoking in enclosed public spaces. In a symbolic gesture, the Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos asked his cabinet members to smoke outside the Government’s building on March 16. The Chamber of Deputies had passed the law that bans smoking in all enclosed public spaces on December 15 last year, and the President signed the law in late-January this year. Some people pushed even harder with the smoking ban. In September, Romanian MP Horia Cristian came up with a draft law aimed at banning the sale of tobacco products to citizens born after January 1, 2017, with the aim is to turn Romania into a smoking-free society, following the Norwegian model. Some Romanian MPs, however, tried to oppose the smoking ban. The Senate decided in early-June that smoking would be allowed in special rooms, completely isolated and accurately labeled, as well as on outdoor patios set up for smoking. These amendments to the smoking ban also have to be voted by the Chamber of Deputies Health minister Vlad Voiculescu took a stance in September, saying that the amendments proposed by the Senate’s Health Committee on the smoking ban in Romania represent an attack on the citizen’s health