Population Research Unit, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Tob Control. 2024 Jun 4;33(Suppl 2):s128-s134. doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057847.
To explore new evidence on illicit practices, such as selling legal brands below the minimum legal price (MLP), and smugglers selling illicit brands at or above the MLP.
For the first time in Brazil, self-reported information on cigarette brand name and price paid per pack in smokers' last purchase from a nationally representative survey conducted in 2019 was used to distinguish the illicit and the legal markets. We estimated the proportion of illicit cigarette consumption, using the combination of brand and price.
The proportion of smuggled illicit cigarette consumption based on brands not approved on the Brazilian market was estimated at 38.6% (95% CI: 35.8% to 41.5%). When we added legal brands not paying taxes, it increased to 47.1% (95% CI: 44.2% to 49.9%). Around 25% of illicit brand cigarettes were sold at or above MLP.
In Brazil, since 2017 there is a lack of adjustment in tobacco taxes and the MLP for inflation and income growth. The increase in cigarette affordability and the presence on the market of a segment of 'higher-priced' illicit brands suggest patterns of illicit brand loyalty and/or perceived 'brand quality' among smokers of illicit cigarettes. The evidence also shows that a sizeable proportion of legal brand cigarettes were sold below the MLP. This study offers insight into what happened in circumstances in which a government failed to keep current with tax policies and the monitoring of domestic manufacturing. Brazil has been a world leader in the monitoring of the tobacco epidemic, and this study also offers an innovative use of data that an increasing number of countries are collecting.
探索非法活动的新证据，例如以低于最低法定价格 (MLP) 出售合法品牌，以及走私者以 MLP 或以上价格出售非法品牌。
在巴西，这是首次使用 2019 年进行的全国代表性调查中吸烟者最近购买的香烟品牌名称和每包支付价格的自我报告信息来区分非法和合法市场。我们使用品牌和价格组合来估计非法香烟消费的比例。
根据未经巴西市场批准的品牌，走私非法香烟消费的比例估计为 38.6%（95%CI：35.8%至 41.5%）。当我们加入不纳税的合法品牌时，这一比例增加到 47.1%（95%CI：44.2%至 49.9%）。约 25%的非法品牌香烟以 MLP 或以上价格出售。
在巴西，自 2017 年以来，烟草税和 MLP 都没有根据通货膨胀和收入增长进行调整。香烟可负担性的提高以及“高价”非法品牌在市场上的存在表明，非法品牌的消费者存在品牌忠诚度和/或对非法香烟的“品牌质量”的认知。证据还表明，相当一部分合法品牌香烟以低于 MLP 的价格出售。本研究深入了解了在政府未能跟上税收政策和国内制造业监测的情况下发生的情况。巴西一直是监测烟草流行的世界领先者，本研究还提供了对越来越多国家正在收集的数据的创新使用。
