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PM warns: Cigarette, alcohol prices will rise
Further increases in the duties on alcohol and cigarettes will be imposed if the ruling Peoples National Movement wins the upcoming general election...
Further increases in the duties on alcohol and cigarettes will be imposed if the ruling Peoples National Movement wins the upcoming general election, Prime Minister Patrick Manning disclosed yesterday.He said his administration believed it was one way to deal with the increase in non-communicable diseases in the country.
Such diseases include cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.The Manning administration raised the tax and duties on alcohol and cigarettes by at least 15 per cent in the 2006/2007 Budget."And I am sure in the future we will raise the price again," Manning said yesterday.
He said it was "always the intention" of his administration to make alcohol and cigarettes "less easily available by raising the price" to address health concerns as opposed to any attempt to hurt "big business".Manning did so in response to questions posed during a media clinic hosted by the Caribbean Community in advance of its Heads of Government Conference meeting on non-communicable diseases on Saturday in Port of Spain at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Port of Spain.
The media clinic, which saw journalists from this country and around the region participating by way of a video conference, took place yesterday at the Old Fire Station building in Port of Spain. Manning said the tax hikes on cigarettes and alcohol were implemented as a result of a workshop on non-communicable diseases held in the country on September 15, 2006, in response to recommendations included in the Report of the Commission on Health and Development.
"Among the first steps were the increased taxes on tobacco and alcohol in the Budget for fiscal year 2007 given that these items have been identified as major contributors to the high mortality rates caused by Non-Communicable Diseases in this country as well as the Caribbean and for that matter the world over," he said.
