A ruling party lawmaker has submitted a bill calling for tax hikes on cigarettes to curb the smoking rate.

Lee Man-woo, a lawmaker with the ruling Saenuri Party, submitted the bill on Sunday calling the government to change its cigarette tax structure and increase the prices in relation to inflation rate.

Lee pointed out that the cigarette taxes are not indexed for inflation as the government has been fixing the price for many years. Under the new bill, all tobacco makers would be required to increase their price each year to adjust for inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.

Lee said in a statement that increasing the cost of tobacco encourages smokers to quit and discourages young people from taking it up. Also, it will help reduce medical costs related to smoking, he added.

The Seoul government, which maintains cheaper cigarette prices despite the high smoking rate, has been criticized for not making aggressive efforts. Since 2004, a packet of cigarettes has stayed between 2,500 won ($2.1) and 3,000 won in Korea, one of the lowest figues OECD nations.

Meanwhile, a leading foreign tobacco player in Korea welcomed the move. BAT Korea’s senior executive Kim Hyoung-min said, “BAT Korea fully supports the bill considering there has been no tobacco excise increase in Korea for almost ten years.”

(596story@heraldcorp.com)