By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
LAOAG CITY—Amidst the
implementation of the sin tax law, a multi-national tobacco company is ready to
expand to a bigger market and partner with Ilocos Norte farmers to plant
tobacco.
Edwin Cariño, head of the
Sustainable Development Center under the provincial government confirmed this
as he reported the management of the Universal Leaf Philippines Inc. (ULPI) is
set to visit Ilocos Norte to discuss the possible partnership agreement with
Ilocos Norte Gov. Ma. Imelda Josefa “Imee” R. Marcos.
“We are expecting the top
executives of ULPI represented by its president Winston Wi or the vice
president Erwin Ang to meet with our governor in the upcoming week,” said Mr. Cariño.
According to Mr. Cariño, ULPI
is interested to enter into a contract growing scheme with tobacco farmers
here.
Under the contract growing
scheme, he explained ULPI will assure tobacco farmers that they have a ready
market for their products. They will also provide both technical and financial
assistance to them.
In 2012, the government
enacted Republic Act No. 10351, more commonly known as the sin tax law, which
aims to curb the incidence of smoking in the country, by making cigarettes more
expensive through higher taxes on cigarette manufacturers.
It means simplified cigarette
taxes by imposing a single PHP30 tax for every pack of cigarettes, regardless
of brand.
The single tax rate took
effect in January 2016 with a four percent increase annually.
Earlier, the National Tobacco
Administration has conducted a series of consultations and dialogues to
formulate a roadmap for the tobacco industry.
The roadmap shall serve as a
basis of NTA in effecting policies and implementing programs for the benefit of
the 65,000 registered tobacco farmers in the country and those that depend on
the industry for livelihood.
Comments
Post a Comment