Argentina : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation, and Taxation
This country brief provides an overview of tobacco legislation, use, and taxation in Argentina. Argentina is the only country in Latin America which did not become a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Still, many of th...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/139771560801049756/Argentina-Overview-of-Tobacco-Use-Tobacco-Control-Legislation-and-Taxation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31960 |
| Summary: | This country brief provides an overview
of tobacco legislation, use, and taxation in Argentina.
Argentina is the only country in Latin America which did not
become a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control (FCTC). Still, many of the FCTC provisions are
included in the legislation. The prevalence of smoking was
quite high in 1970-1990s ranging between 40-58 percent among
men and 20- 25 percent among women. After tobacco control
measures were implemented, the prevalence of smoking
decreased. Tobacco consumption and smoking prevalence in
Argentina decreased due to the implementation of
comprehensive tobacco control policies and some economic
factors, which reduced cigarette affordability in the
country. In Argentina, cigarette affordability and tobacco
consumption reduction were observed in: (1) 1999-2002; (2)
2014-2015; (3) 2016. In the first case (1999-2002), it was
mainly caused by the reduction in population income during
the economic recession. In 2014-2015, tax rates were not
changed, and the main factor of the affordability reduction
was the pricing policy of the tobacco industry. The largest
decline in affordability was achieved by the government
taxation policy implemented in May 2016: the effective
excise tax rate was actually increased by about 100.
Cigarette sales in 2016 declined by 5 billion sticks or by
12 percent. Tobacco taxation system should be simplified to
one excise tax with a unified ad valorem rate for all
tobacco products and specific minimum excise rates for each
tobacco product. The specific tax rates should be set high
enough to prevent the sales of very cheap tobacco products,
and these specific rates should be annually increased above
the inflation rate to ensure both the reduction of tobacco
consumption and the increase of governmental revenue.
Subsidies for tobacco growers through the Special Tobacco
Fund are counterproductive from both public health and
economic perspectives. Tobacco use surveillance and
monitoring should be further developed in Argentina,
including regular surveys with a collection of comprehensive
information on tobacco products consumed in the country. |
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