Cigarette manufacturers on 10 November 2009 opposed the USD 300-million proposal of Swiss firm Sicpa Product Security to affix a high-tech, tamper-proof strip stamps on every pack of locally made cigarettes.

Chris Nelson of Philip Morris told the House ways and means committee that the proposal’s cost would be borne initially by manufacturers and eventually passed on to consumers. "This translates to around PHP 0.50 to PHP 1 increase in cost per pack across the board for all brands – an amount higher than the excise tax increases in 2007, 2009 and 2011 for low, medium and high tax categories," he said.
For Philip Morris, he continued, the cost of the stamps "translates to around PHP 564 million to PHP 1.1 billion a year. For our bigger competitor, Fortune Tobacco, the figure is between PHP 1.6 billion and PHP 3.2 billion a year. It is a big blow to companies like ours still reeling from the effects of the global recession. More so the small players."
Nelson also expressed surprise over the increase in the cost of Sicpa’s proposal, saying the initial estimate was only USD 266 million over seven years.
Deputy Commissioner Lilia Guillermo of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) informed the ways and means committee that the project would cost smokers PHP 18 billion over the proposed seven-year engagement period. She also said the project aimed to enhance the collection of excise taxes on cigarettes and would result in a 15-per cent efficiency in BIR’s monitoring of the production and sales of cigarettes.
Susan Resurreccion of La Suerte said at present, the BIR assigns personnel in the plants of each cigarette manufacturer to monitor "removals" or withdrawal of cigarettes.
The strip stamps project has reportedly been approved by the National Economic Development Authority investment coordinating committee. (sra)