Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation

Montenegro became a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2006 and ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in 2017. Tobacco excise hikes, undertaken in Montenegro in 2009-2011, were successful both...

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Main Author: World Bank Group
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/646321561400173562/Montenegro-Overview-of-Tobacco-Use-Tobacco-Control-Legislation-and-Taxation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32061
id okr-10986-32061
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-320612021-05-25T09:25:50Z Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation World Bank Group TOBACCO CONTROL TOBACCO USE DISEASE TOBACCO TAX CIGARETTE PRICES TOBACCO CONSUMPTION EXCISE TAX LEGISLATION Montenegro became a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2006 and ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in 2017. Tobacco excise hikes, undertaken in Montenegro in 2009-2011, were successful both in fiscal and public health terms. Revenues from tobacco excises rose from about 4 million in 2007 to 44 million euro in 2011. Annual cigarette sales declined from more than 1.5 billion cigarettes in 2008-2011 to less than 1 billion cigarettes in 2014 and further years. However, in 2013-2016, tobacco excise increases were too small to reduce tobacco affordability and tobacco sales, and tobacco revenues did not change much. In August 2017, Montenegro adopted an ambitious plan of excise tax increases; however, the tobacco industry responded with series of hidden actions (forestalling and price over-shifting) which temporarily reduced tobacco excise revenue in early 2018. As the next high increase of excise rate was scheduled for January 2018, and at the same time, VAT rate increased from 19 to 21, the industry substantially increased cigarette supply in the second half of 2017 and sharply reduced it in early 2018 as it already had in stocks large numbers of cigarettes for which excise was paid in 2017. The excise revenue substantially increased in late 2017, but declined in early 2018 despite the excise rate increase. The industry organized the media campaign to persuade the government that this revenue decline was allegedly caused by tax-driven growth in cigarette smuggling (while no rigorous evidence of such growth was presented), and the only way to fight smuggling is the reduction of cigarette excise. From September 2018, the excise rates were reduced, while they are still higher than those planned before 2017. The plan of annual tobacco excise changes until 2025 was already adopted by authorities, but the proposed changes have rather low potential to reduce the tobacco consumption and to increase government revenue. The expected total excise rate in 2025 will be below 90 euro (minimum EU level). Montenegro is able to conduct a more aggressive and successful tobacco taxation policy which can both reduce tobacco consumption and increase tobacco revenue. 2019-07-11T16:43:14Z 2019-07-11T16:43:14Z 2019-06-23 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/646321561400173562/Montenegro-Overview-of-Tobacco-Use-Tobacco-Control-Legislation-and-Taxation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32061 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Other Health Study Europe and Central Asia Montenegro
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic TOBACCO CONTROL
TOBACCO USE
DISEASE
TOBACCO TAX
CIGARETTE PRICES
TOBACCO CONSUMPTION
EXCISE TAX
LEGISLATION
spellingShingle TOBACCO CONTROL
TOBACCO USE
DISEASE
TOBACCO TAX
CIGARETTE PRICES
TOBACCO CONSUMPTION
EXCISE TAX
LEGISLATION
World Bank Group
Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation
geographic_facet Europe and Central Asia
Montenegro
description Montenegro became a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2006 and ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in 2017. Tobacco excise hikes, undertaken in Montenegro in 2009-2011, were successful both in fiscal and public health terms. Revenues from tobacco excises rose from about 4 million in 2007 to 44 million euro in 2011. Annual cigarette sales declined from more than 1.5 billion cigarettes in 2008-2011 to less than 1 billion cigarettes in 2014 and further years. However, in 2013-2016, tobacco excise increases were too small to reduce tobacco affordability and tobacco sales, and tobacco revenues did not change much. In August 2017, Montenegro adopted an ambitious plan of excise tax increases; however, the tobacco industry responded with series of hidden actions (forestalling and price over-shifting) which temporarily reduced tobacco excise revenue in early 2018. As the next high increase of excise rate was scheduled for January 2018, and at the same time, VAT rate increased from 19 to 21, the industry substantially increased cigarette supply in the second half of 2017 and sharply reduced it in early 2018 as it already had in stocks large numbers of cigarettes for which excise was paid in 2017. The excise revenue substantially increased in late 2017, but declined in early 2018 despite the excise rate increase. The industry organized the media campaign to persuade the government that this revenue decline was allegedly caused by tax-driven growth in cigarette smuggling (while no rigorous evidence of such growth was presented), and the only way to fight smuggling is the reduction of cigarette excise. From September 2018, the excise rates were reduced, while they are still higher than those planned before 2017. The plan of annual tobacco excise changes until 2025 was already adopted by authorities, but the proposed changes have rather low potential to reduce the tobacco consumption and to increase government revenue. The expected total excise rate in 2025 will be below 90 euro (minimum EU level). Montenegro is able to conduct a more aggressive and successful tobacco taxation policy which can both reduce tobacco consumption and increase tobacco revenue.
format Report
author World Bank Group
author_facet World Bank Group
author_sort World Bank Group
title Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation
title_short Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation
title_full Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation
title_fullStr Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation
title_full_unstemmed Montenegro : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation and Taxation
title_sort montenegro : overview of tobacco use, tobacco control legislation and taxation
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2019
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/646321561400173562/Montenegro-Overview-of-Tobacco-Use-Tobacco-Control-Legislation-and-Taxation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32061
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