Publication: Tajikistan: Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation, and Taxation
Date
2019-06-21
ISSN
Published
2019-06-21
Author(s)
World Bank Group
Abstract
Smoking prevalence Tajikistan remains
rather moderate. According to the Global Adult Tobacco
Survey (GATS) conducted in 2016, smokers constitute 6.3
percent of the adult population of Tajikistan. However, 12.5
percent of study participants reported consuming smokeless
tobacco (nasway). Tajikistan joined the Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2013. Tobacco control
legislation was adopted in 2010 and amended in 2017 in line
with the FCTC guidelines. The new pictorial health warnings
should cover at least 75 percent of the surface on both
largest sides of the packs. The amended law bans
point-of-sale advertising. However, tobacco excise rates in
Tajikistan were very low, and tobacco affordability was
growing. In July 2018, the cigarette excise rates were
increased almost 10-fold, but cigarette prices increased in
2018 only by 19 percent as the excise is still very low in
monetary terms (about 0.25 USD per pack of 20 cigarettes).
Cigarette taxes and prices in Tajikistan are still lower
than in neighboring countries, and cigarette smuggling out
of Tajikistan exceeds cigarette smuggling into the country.
Special policies aiming to discourage nasway use and related
surveillance activities should be implemented in Tajikistan,
while the introduction of excise or other taxes for such a
home-made product can hardly produce substantial benefits.
Tobacco use surveillance and monitoring should be developed
in the country including publicly available information on
sales of tobacco products, as well as their prices, excise
revenue, and other economic indicators. Tajikistan has a
great potential to increase tobacco excise rates in 2019 and
in the following years, as well as to contribute to health
objectives related to the reducing tobacco use. The greater
the excise tax increase, the larger both the reduction in
tobacco consumption and tobacco excise revenue growth will be.
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2019. Tajikistan: Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation, and Taxation. WBG Global Tobacco Control Program;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31955 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”