On March 6 and 7, 2006 the World Bank country office in Uzbekistan hosted a seminar on “Economic Implications of Tobacco Tax Policy and Options”. The seminar was jointly arranged with the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Health of  Uzbekistan.

Tobacco control is a high priority for the World Bank because of the very high and rapidly rising toll of tobacco-attributable premature mortality and morbidity around the globe. Taxes are considered one of the most effective economic tools to control tobacco prevalence and the epidemic, but many governments often express concerns about the possible economic consequences of higher excises on their economy; especially on tax revenues and smuggling. Therefore, the aim of the seminar was to increase the technical knowledge of the participants – officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Tax and Customs Administration, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Trade, on tax and smuggling.

The topics covered at the seminar include:

• Types of Taxes Levied on Tobacco Products:  Excise taxes, VAT or Sales taxes and Import duties; Global and regional evidence on tobacco tax rates and revenues.
• Excise Taxes and Administration: Structure and the administration issues; Pros and cons of imposing different excise taxes on tobacco products to government revenues, consumption, product quality and variety, and the administration.
• Excise Tax Administration: Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the excise tax administration.
• Cigarette Smuggling: Reasons behind smuggling activities; Global and regional evidence.
• Tax Rates and Smuggling: The relationship between taxes and smuggling, as well as government s’ policies /responses on combating smuggling.
• How to control cigarette smuggling:
  • Increasing effectiveness of Customs Administrations.
  • Policy options, government commitment and the role of international collaborations (e.g. the World Customs Organization)

Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan participated at the seminar. The key presenters were: Dr. Douglas Bettcher, WHO/TFI*, Dr. Ayda A. Yurekli, Senior Economist, WHO/TFI, Consultant, the World Bank, and Mr. Michael Smart, IMF.

* - Tobacco Free Initiative

Available documents:
Industry monitoring - English version (2.4MB, MS PowerPoint)
Smuggling and the FCTC - English version (365KB, MS PowerPoint)
Smuggling and the FCTC - Russian version (372KB, MS PowerPoint)
Tobacco taxation: Principles and practices - English version (85KB, MS PowerPoint)
Tobacco taxation: Principles and practices - Russian version (142KB, MS PowerPoint)
Taxation and the FCTC - English version (842KB, MS PowerPoint)
Taxation and the FCTC - Russian version (109KB, MS PowerPoint)
Uzbek excises and revenues - Russian version (202KB, MS PowerPoint)