Duties on tobacco imports to triple in attempt to encourage domestic supplies

On September 12, custom duties on unprocessed tobacco will more than triple, under a government's plan to limit the import of tobacco, increase income to the budget and protect domestic farmers. The Finance Minister's ordinance on the issue published on September 5 states, "The rate for unprocessed tobacco will increase from 30% to 105%". The government would like to see more farmers grow tobacco, as the 2002 harvest decreased by 1,000 tones compared to 2001. Poland is negotiating with the EU to have a 70,000 ton tobacco production limit, a level which it produced several years ago. Cigarette producers are astonished by the decision. According to the Philip Morris spokeswoman Sarachman, the policies will not increase domestic tobacco production, but rather give rise to a fall in production as tobacco companies will contract less tobacco from domestic growers due to the increase in the price of tobacco. Price increases in cigarettes also cannot be ruled out say leading manufacturers. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5) M.T.