Hungary's government has objected to a European Union directive which will raise the excise duty on tobacco by 2014, the finance ministry said on Monday.

Currently, excise duties levied on cigarettes must account for at least 57 per cent of price, and must be at least EUR 64 per 1,000 cigarettes, for products falling under the "most popular price category" in Hungary.
This current percentage would be increased to 63 per cent of the weighted average price and the rate of EUR 64 will rise to EUR 90 for all cigarettes by 2014, under the new proposal of the European Commission.
Hungary does not support this directive, finance ministry department head Zsuzsa Görözdi said at a meeting of the European issues committee (within the parliament's budget committee) on Monday.
She said the hike of the excise tax would lead to a substantial rise in the price of cigarettes and increase cigarette smuggling. Hungarian cigarette tobacco producers would be forced to shut down and Hungary would have to import cigarettes.
Tobacco directives need to be reviewed in the EU every four years and the current proposal is the fourth in line. (pi)