Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Pakistan

31st August 2023: Pakistan: Experts and health advocates, such as the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), have urged the government to take immediate action and ban novel tobacco products, nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes, press reports. Malik Imran Ahmed, country head for Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), said that these products are being consumed by young people and that Pakistan should take measures as other countries have. Ziauddin Islam, former technical head of the Tobacco Control Cell at the Ministry of Health, also said that these products pose a risk to health and should be banned.
20th March 2023: Pakistan: During a seminar on the impact of nicotine and heated tobacco products on public health – held on 19th March in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province – Nek Dad, public health director of the Directorate General of Health Services, called for a restriction on the use and marketing of heated tobacco products, highlighting the need to educate the public on their potential harm, press reports.
20th February 2023: Pakistan: In response to the recent cigarette tax increase, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) – an independent non-profit organisation – has said that the government should impose high taxes on heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, reiterating that increasing the taxes will result in reduced consumption and will help to fight the black market, press reports. Last Tuesday, 14th February, the government increased the general sales tax of standard cigarettes to 18% and the excise duty on cigarettes from PKR6.5 ($0.025) to PKR16.5 ($0.063) per cigarette – an increase of 153% – according to a local report.
9th August 2022: Pakistan: The Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH) is urging the government to ban nicotine pouches, press reports. One of the country’s leading health bodies, PANAH, whose patron in chief is the president of Pakistan, has asked the government to withdraw the Velo brand from the market, arguing that nicotine pouches can increase blood pressure and can lead to heart disease, stroke, and oral cancer. The association also claims the British American Tobacco (BAT)-owned brand is being targeted at young people.
8th July 2022: Pakistan: The government has raised the threshold under which expensive cigarette brands are taxed at the same time it has raised the excise duty rate applicable, press reports. Ziauddin Islam, former tobacco control expert at the Ministry of Health, has criticised the measure, saying that it will lead to an increase in smoking prevalence since it is seen as a tax relief. Changes to the tax regime are not applicable to novel tobacco products such as heated tobacco. Previously, the excise duty was set at PKR1,650 (€7.50) per 1,000 cigarettes, if the retail price of the cigarettes was over PKR5,960 (€27.50) per 1,000 sticks. With the amendment, in order to apply the new excise duty of PKR1,850 (€8.50), the retail price of the cigarettes has to be more than PKR6,660 (€30.50) per 1,000 sticks.

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