History of the anti-smoking campaign
By Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
According to the World heath Organization, 9,000-11,000 people in Georgia die from smoking-related diseases every year. 3,000 of them die from passive smoking. Research says that 30% of the country’s population smokes (55% of men and 4.8% of women).
Specialists say that it is the highest ratio of smokers to non-smokers in the world. The population of Georgia totals about 4 million people, according to the latest census. According to information of the WHO, 10 billion cigarettes (about 500 million packs) are sold in the country for a total of $580 million every year. The figure is huge, especially considering that the budget of the country is hardly over $5 billion. It is obvious that the government would be reluctant to stop such a business. Excises, customs and other taxes imposed on the tobacco business bring the budget significant income.
Business unwilling to lose extreme income will be sensitive to any changes in the sector. One of the peculiarities of the cigarette business is that it is very stable. Unlike construction and gasoline trade, imports of cigarettes are hardly dependent on the conjuncture in the international market, political risks and the economic condition.
This is why the cigarette business in Georgia has always been a conflict sector. There have been armed clashes (like the shooting between security guards of the Elizi and Omega cigarette importers on the central highway), kidnappings and arrests of cigarette companies under pressure of competing lobbies in law enforcing structures, dumping wars and confrontation in the parliament.
During the presidency of Shevardnadze, imports of cigarettes were the only successful field of the economy. Cigarettes traders kept complaining about the “black hole” in South Ossetia, where Georgian and Ossetian traders were bringing in huge amounts of smuggled Russian cigarettes. In February 2004, just three months after the Rose Revolution, President Saakashvili and Minister Zurab Zhvania started closing the enormous market of Ergneti on the Georgian-South Ossetian border. The main reason was an attempt to protect the home market from unfair competition and dumping. As a result, the budget doubled that year. The first sign of the coming bloodshed was seen back then!
Taking lessons into account, the Alliance for Tobacco Control non-commercial organization seemed like a risky start. Georgy Bakhturidze, heading the Alliance, prepared a project called “Reduction of diseases and mortality by raising taxes on tobacco products.”
“Our main goal is to force the tobacco industry to pay compensation to the population for health damage,” says Bakhturidze. In his words, the compensation should total $500 million. In general, it means closing down the sector completely. Moreover, the Alliance wants to ban adverts for tobacco products and sponsorship and implement big fines for smoking in buildings, including cafes and restaurants.
The non-commercial organization has already got the government to approve the “State program for tobacco control” which does not introduce any bans or raise excise fees. This is the reason why the mighty cigarette lobby is silent. Should the strategy be realized, cigarette traders will most likely start a fight, arguing that it would be foolish to shut down a whole sector of the economy when no other ones work. Besides, imposition of bans on smoking in cafes and restaurants may fail due to the peculiarities of the culture. In the West, where such bans have already been imposed, the culture is different.
People will not understand “segregation” in terms of smoking at cafes and restaurants for non-smokers. Obviously, they are less attractive to a category of person willing to eat out or spend time with coffee. The problems and risks will definitely be used by the cigarette lobby as soon as the Alliance makes its first proposals at the plenary session of the parliament.
