From: CRE Brazil
The Brazilian Minister of Health, Ricardo Barros, defended the increase of up to 50% in the price of cigarette packs as a way to combat smoking in Brazil. The measure, however, may have an opposite effect in the assessment of government specialists. It may be that the higher value is an even greater stimulus for seeking out contraband products, which are already at a very high level.
Smuggled cigarettes already account for 41% of the tobacco consumer market in Brazil, which is the second largest in the world, surpassed only by Malaysia, with 51%. The demand for illegal products has the added disadvantage that, in addition to not paying taxes, they do not go through any quality control.
