The Confederation of Malaysian Tobacco Manufacturers (CMTM) said today selling 20-stick packs for less than the minimum price was an offence and that retailers risked action by the Health Ministry if they did so.
The CMTM, representing British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd, Philip Morris and JT International Bhd, was responding to reports in The Sun on Monday that cigarettes were being sold below the minimum price, sometimes as low as RM3.50 to RM4.
The tobacco industry body said that based on its own observations, cigarette packs being sold below the required minimum had genuine Customs security markings and were therefore not likely to have been smuggled from neighbouring countries.
It pointed out that for each 20-stick pack, cigarette makers have to pay about RM5 in taxes prior to distribution to retailers.
“As such, CMTM is significantly perplexed as to how these products... can be retailed not only below the minimum cigarette price but also below the mandatory tax payable amount,” CMTM chief executive Shaik Abbas Ibrahim said in a statement.
“It is clear that selling cigarette packs below the minimum cigarette price does make such packs much more affordable and increase their sales.”
The CMTM was established in 1980 to manage various issues of common interest between cigarette makers and act as a general source of information on the Malaysian tobacco industry.
