Tobacco industry – Pakistan’s Giffen Paradox?
Many governments around the world keep a close eye on the use of tobacco – mostly used in cigarettes. Many countries increase taxes over time to reduce its consumption –…
Tax evasion in tobacco industry
Steal a little and they'll put you in jail, steal a lot and they'll make you king. This famous English proverb is so true when it comes to Pakistan. Illicit…
Fearing tobacco’s fate, palm oil industry fights back
On the morning of Feb. 26, executives from a Washington consultancy presented a strategy paper to some of the most powerful officials in the Malaysian palm oil industry. The message:…
Tobacco taxation
EVERY year, close to 164,000 people die due to tobacco use in Pakistan. This means 450 deaths per day, more than 3,100 deaths per week and over 13,600 deaths per…
Tobacco taxes – treaties, tensions, and trends
Pakistan faces a pressing need for a sustainable tobacco taxation policy, particularly as tobacco use imposes severe health and economic burdens on the country. With over 160,000 deaths annually due…
The weight-loss industry
It’s not a conspiracy theory that food addiction is a tool of corporate profiteering. Consider that tobacco companies, upon being regulated out of the business of addictive smoking, turned their…
Harnessing tobacco taxation for economic revitalisation
Pakistan faces multifaceted economic challenges; and amidst these, the role of tobacco taxation emerges as a potential avenue for financial rejuvenation. There is an urgent need to explore how strategic…
Challenges in tobacco control in Pakistan
The international community observed The World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 2022. In the case of Pakistan, however, the Day reminded us all the sordid reality that the cigarette…
Illicit trade in tobacco products — I
This is the first part of a two-part series on how to counter illicit trade in tobacco products, recoup revenue losses and discourage smoking that is great health hazard. Illicit…
Illicit trade in tobacco products — II
19.1 percent of Pakistani population, which includes 31.8 percent of men and 5.8 percent of women, consume tobacco in one form or the other. Among these tobacco consumers, 9.6 percent…
