EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAIT TIMES, MALAYSIA

Tariffs on tobacco will cut its consumption further

HABITS, no matter how debilitating, can be hard to shed. One such habit is smoking. Despite universal recognition of the weed's health risks, the tobacco industry has shown an untiring resilience in fighting its own corner. In fact, it is aggressively campaigning against any further restrictions on its marketing strategies, as is happening in Australia. Higher taxes and health warnings on cigarette packaging are not having a sufficiently deterrent effect on old or new smokers. Concerns have been expressed on the number of young adults lighting up in the face of endless public campaigns against smoking because the damage is not just on smokers themselves, but also on those around them -- the passive smokers, whether second or third hand. Medical scare stories abound, including one claiming that constant smoking indoors can leave a long-lasting residue that sickens infants.

That Asean has decided, as a group, to take a stronger public health stand against smoking is, therefore, to be warmly welcomed. The proposed delisting of tobacco from the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) list, as declared by the minister of health, should help put the habit out of reach of many. Granted that more than any other group, the economically less able will be first hit by further price increases, nevertheless, the end game is to reduce the number of smokers to zero and guarantee public health. As it stands, tobacco, as part of the Afta list, enjoys a tariff rate as low as five per cent. Delisting makes for the possibility of imposing a higher duty on tobacco products. Not that the industry will take these measures lying down, but governments cannot shy away from their duties to fulfil the greater good.

Of course, the reason why it was in the list in the first place is because the tobacco plant was a cash crop encouraged in many Asean member countries, including Malaysia. Naturally then, it merited a special position in the trading arrangements of the organisation. Responsive as always to ethical concerns, the crop is now not a major earner for the country. And, as concerns grow regarding the adverse impact of smoking on health, policy priorities must be changed accordingly. Indeed, it is easier to persuade people that infant deformities in the Indochinese countries are due to Agent Orange dropped on the region during the Vietnam War. Why is it not as easily believable that smoking by pregnant mothers is likely to harm the unborn child? Certainly, people should be free to decide for themselves, but there should equally be clear and costly disincentives to making the wrong choices.