* This is my article in BusinessWorld last September 04, 2018.
TOBACCO, alcohol and fossil fuel products are among the most demonized, most bureaucratized, most taxed products in the country and abroad. Thus, the excise tax for them on top of VAT, income tax and related taxes.
TOBACCO, alcohol and fossil fuel products are among the most demonized, most bureaucratized, most taxed products in the country and abroad. Thus, the excise tax for them on top of VAT, income tax and related taxes.
The hypothesis is that more smoking and drinking
prevalence means more diseases for the people and hence, people live less
healthy, live shorter and more miserable.
Some official data, however, would douse cold water on
this claim. Some countries with high smoking incidence or prevalence like
Singapore and Japan have higher life expectancy than countries with much lower
smoking prevalence like Australia (see Table 1).
The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS),
a free market think tank in Malaysia, in partnership with Minimal Government
Thinkers, our counterpart free market think tank here in the Philippines, will
organize a seminar, “Alternative Tobacco Product Regulations: The Role of the
Consumers” on Sept. 14, 2018 at the Holiday Inn Makati.
This small-group, by-invitation-only event aims to bring
together stakeholders to discuss ways where government regulation of tobacco
and alternative products can be optimized — lesser public health harm,
government gets revenues, and not encouraging illicit and smuggled products
that are cheaper and product quality is unregulated.
Focus will be on e-cigarettes and heated products —
should rising restrictions and taxation of the usual tobacco products apply to
these alternatives?
Some government officials like the National Tobacco
Administration (NTA), Congress, independent researchers, and various consumer
organizations will speak.
Whenever the free market is severely curtailed and
restricted, the black market always comes in and thrives. This is true for
drugs, certain gambling, smuggling, gun-running, prostitution. All these
products and services are legally banned and prohibited and yet all of them
exist until today. The black market and illicit trade makes it very lucrative
for government regulators and enforcers to allow the prohibited in exchange for
handsome personal and financial favors.
In the afternoon of the same day, IDEAS and the Economic
Freedom Network (EFN) Asia will hold another small group, by-invite only
roundtable discussion on “Economic integration within ASEAN” also at Holiday
Inn Makati.
IDEAS is conducting a research project on two areas
related to ASEAN. First, the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC) 2025 Blueprint, and second, the prospects for deepening trade
relationship between ASEAN and the EU.
Talking about ASEAN economic integration, a good data to
look is the direction of trade — how much of ASEAN countries’ exports go to
fellow members and the rest of Asia, and how much of their imports come from
fellow members and the rest of Asia (see Table 2).
As shown in the numbers above, many ASEAN countries are
trading more with themselves and the rest of Asia, reducing the share of trade
with North America, Europe, Oceania, South America and Africa.
For the Philippines, our high-trade dependence with the
US before has significantly declined. Philippines exports to Asia rose from 48%
of total exports in 2000 to 66.5% in 2016.
Which leads us to the current issue of “rice crisis,”
“bukbok/weevil rice,” and “smoked/fumigated rice.” It is foolish for the
government through the Department of Agriculture and National Food Authority
(NFA) to retain rice protectionism when the two biggest rice exporters in the
world are our neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam.
We should have free trade in rice, get cheaper rice from
our neighbors, give cheaper rice to our poor consumers, instead of asking them
to endure bukbok/weevil and smoked/fumigated rice. Abolition of NFA as a huge
and costly bureaucracy is a good proposal.
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BWorld 244, Property rights and political lefts, September 2, 2018
BWorld 245, Renewables illusion and coal realism, September 7, 2018
BWorld 246, LTFRB command and control, September 08, 2018
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