Tobacco Restriction Law Will Not Reduce Smoking in FBiH, But Will Lead to Flourishing Black Market

Hoteliers, restaurateurs, restaurateurs, small retailers, and hookah bar owners who oppose the adoption of the Draft Law on Control and Limited Use of Tobacco, Tobacco, and Other Smoking Products have sent an open letter to the proposer of this law, the Ministry of Health of the Federation of BiH, as well as to the entire BiH public.

In the letter, they state that the Ministry's Draft Law on Control and Limited Use of Tobacco, Tobacco, and Other Smoking Products directly affects their fate.

“Your draft law directly affects the income of traders, especially small traders. By abolishing the possibility of displaying products (ban on placing products on visible shelves), you are also abolishing our share of the profit that we achieve with business partners and endangering our survival in the market. And we pay taxes for that share,” the letter states. The signatories of this letter believe that no one will stop smoking because they do not see cigarettes, but will only switch to illegal products whose sellers, they state, no one prevents from advertising and selling their goods on the street, in the market, and via the internet. This, they further state, is evident from the experience in countries in the region.

“We traders are already completely endangered, as the black market is intensifying more and more, and the results of the fight against tobacco and tobacco product smuggling are missing year after year. Such provisions will only worsen the situation. In the past four years, the legal market for tobacco products has decreased by 42%, which has directly cost traders 55 million KM.”

“Dear Sir/Madam, how have you foreseen regulating the reduction of employees in retail? This will happen, for sure. With all the costs that small traders face in the new law, layoffs are inevitable! Who will compensate restaurateurs for the loss? We have talked with colleagues from neighboring countries, and even now, when in Croatia you have divided premises where smoking is allowed and premises where smoking is prohibited, the latter are empty. And the state demands its share for rent, taxes, and everything else. Will the state give up its revenue if it bans smoking in all premises?”

Restaurateurs predict that they will have to lay off workers due to a drop in turnover. Specifically, they state, a decrease in the number of employees of more than 20% is estimated. At the level of BiH, this amounts to 259.9 million KM and an average decrease in VAT revenue of about 38 million KM, compared to 2016.

“We are addressing you on behalf of 55,000 people employed in trade, 150,000 people employed in tourism and hospitality, on behalf of 20,000 owners of business entities in the field of tourism, 9,672 catering facilities operating in the Federation of BiH, and over two million adult smokers-taxpayers and voters,” it is stated, among other things, in the letter sent to the Ministry of Health of FBiH, reports NAP.