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Turia targets duty-free cigarettes

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Turia targets duty-free cigarettes

3News NZ

Cheap cigarettes for overseas travellers could soon go up in smoke.

Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia has told RadioLIVE she wants to cut the duty-free cigarette allowance from 200 down to 50.

Australia introduced the change this week and Ms Turia has asked officials to consider regulations with the same effect.

Labour's Health spokeswoman Maryan Street is right behind her.

"I'm not a smoker, and I've been asked to bring in tobacco and cigarettes for friends and family members," says Ms Street.

"I don't think that's a good thing. If we are really serious about helping people to quit smoking for health reasons, then we should employ every available mechanism to do that."

Ms Turia says it may not take long to do as officials don't need to legislate.

"There's no reason why they can't actually look at this issue and make a determination to essentially regulate duty-free."

Several international excise duty treaties may get in the way of Ms Turia's plan, but she says they're out of date.

RadioLIVE / 3 News

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Comments

6/09/2012 12:11:21 p.m.

Maureen wrote:

Smoking a cigarette doesnt cause people to beat their wives abuse their children or cause mayhem on the roads. Look at alcohol and the No of our babies dying and stop worrying so much about smokers.
Apparently is is illegal to have euthanasia but doctors are refusing to operate on smokers. What if they die when they could have been saved? Isnt that a form of euthanasia. Do we operate on the drunk drivers and criminals?

5/09/2012 4:01:38 p.m.

no hope wrote:

Why is there so much poverty with the Maori and island people because the maroi and green party are swrewing them to the ground. no woner they cannot afford breakfast for the kids when the two partys are putting thew prices of things these people use up all the time. Look at all the payout Maoris have had nothing gos to the people but the fat cats get fatter in riches.

5/09/2012 12:21:11 p.m.

Pavel wrote:

How can people who never smoked be making decisions about nicotine drug addiction from smoking? Smokers will smoke unless they REALLY want to give up. Smokers rather go without food than without smokes. Increasing prices of tabbaco and limit access will do nothing with the urge to smoke. It's like any other addiction. You know it's bad for you but you keep doing it.

5/09/2012 11:00:32 a.m.

Wendy wrote:

For Gods sake leave the Duty free allowances alone.People who visit our country for weeks on end, use this allowance for their own use as well.I don't smoke but at least leave some things as they are. Turia & Maryan Street leave well alone. Start on the bloody alchol limits that causes shit loads of deaths and ill health. Work on the the advertising as well Smokes can't be shown but Alchol can Bloody one sided isn't it?

5/09/2012 9:18:41 a.m.

Mike wrote:

Actually NZ has some of the lowest duties in the world.

Take petrol in the EU currently where petrol we are paying over $2.20 is over $3, yeah we can see how NZ is paying excessive duty.

If go into duty free you tend to find things like tabbaco and alcohol are cheaper, but everything else is not. Look at watches, and you can get the same watches for less in a sale as the duty is so low. Books, the duty free books are more expensive than NZ bookstores, and those are more expensive than NZ online bookstores.

Chocolate and other eats? Again if you hop into a supermarket like pak-n-sav, its cheaper than duty free. Electronics can generally get cheaper elsewhere.

Peple use Duty Free since they assume its cheaper, and in most cases its not. They are lucky that they have a captive market looking and assuming they are getting bargains. These people dont normally buy the stuff they get in duty free, so the duty free stores do okay.

Lowering the allowable from 200 down to 50? It matches the anti smoking of NZ and Australia so it should have been expected. At the end of the day, its the general habbit, not the few duty free cigarettes that make the main cost of smoking. So a typical smoker can only get 2 days smokes vs 8 duty free - not much of a change?

5/09/2012 8:23:04 a.m.

don key wrote:

shot Mal

5/09/2012 8:16:04 a.m.

jan wrote:

Get rid of duty free everything. The cheaper price of goods show how much the government takes from goods. Its a pity we can't do duty free petrol, considering the huge tax take on that. The latest is because we are using less fuel the government has to get tax from elsewhere so our car registrations went up, and we will continue to be targeted otherways to keep the government revenue up. Electricity, using power saving bulbs?, well by using less power the companies put electriciy up because less is being used and they want the profit. Smart phones, maybe they are but not the users, because no matter what we do in this life we are being targeted to pay and pay and pay. Any government who is in all decide to be our moral watchdog and prevent us from having freedom. Not quite yet but its coming. Governments take money from us, then pass laws which restrict what we can and can't do and wonder why we are living in poverty and others are leaving for Australia. (Yes I do know they have shit laws to, which this country seems intent on copying).

5/09/2012 6:56:52 a.m.

Mal wrote:

WHAT ABOUT THE 270,000 kids living in poverty? People dont need you to think for them about wether they should smoke or not. Get with the real problems