In 5 years, the price of a packet of cigarettes could reach 11.30 euros. This recommendation would be put in place to fight more effectively against smoking.
This new report from the Senate Social Affairs Committee was presented on Wednesday February 26 by the Socialist General Rapporteur for the Social Security budget, Yves Daudigny, and UMP Senator Catherine Deroche. It could be at the origin of a future future law of public health studied soon in the Council of Ministers explains the site of Public Senate.
“If tobacco taxes increase steadily, they are, according to senators, ineffective and have only served to enrich the tobacco industry. “
A minimum level of increase for real efficiency
Indeed “between 2004 and 2011, although the price of the packet rose from 5 to 6.20 euros, that is to say an increase of 25%, the sales of cigarettes remained around 54 billion units”, underline the senators in their presentation of the report. “Between 2004 and 2012, the market went from 13 billion euros to 15.5 billion euros, an increase of more than 18% favorable to the turnover of the manufacturers and the budgetary revenues of the State ”, write Yves Daudigny and Catherine Deroche.
The senators unveiled that “the National Program for the reduction of smoking, which must be finalized before the summer as part of the Cancer Plan, provides for a 10% increase per year in the price of the various products of the tobaccoover the next five years. This is the minimum level to act effectively. Or, for the red package of the best-selling brand in France, a drop from 7 euros to 7.7 euros the first year, for a price, after 5 years of increase, of 11.27 euros. “
“Tobacco is responsible for 73,000 deaths in the country each year, for a social cost which would amount to 47 billion euros per year”, according to a study cited by the report.
Furthermore, the European Parliamenthas just announced these anti-smoking directives and put in place measures to ban in 2016 packages of 20 cigarettes, or packages in the form of lipstick or perfumes, of flavored cigarettes. In addition, the packets will be covered with two-thirds warning images.
