The Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) has stated that Bangladesh's current four-tier cigarette pricing system—low, medium, high, and premium—has failed to produce the intended results in terms of tobacco pricing and tax measures.

ATMA argues that the narrow price gap between low and medium-tier cigarettes allows consumers to easily switch between these tiers, undermining public health efforts.

To address this, ATMA has proposed merging the low and medium price tiers into one, reducing the number of tiers to three.

This proposal was presented during a pre-budget meeting for FY 2025-26 with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on March 18, 2025.

At the meeting, NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan expressed openness to the idea of consolidating the price tiers and simultaneously increasing prices.

He also praised a proposal from ATMA and PROGGA aimed at generating an additional BDT 20,000 crore in revenue through reforms in the tobacco tax structure.

The need for such reforms is underscored by the stark contrast between tobacco price increases and the rising costs of essential commodities in Bangladesh.

Between July 2021 and July 2023, essential goods such as sugar, potatoes, and cooking oil saw price hikes ranging from 27% to 89%.

In comparison, cigarette prices only increased by 6-15% across different tiers, making tobacco products increasingly affordable, particularly for the youth and low-income populations—a trend that poses serious public health risks.

The ATMA delegation at the meeting included Kawser Rahman, City Editor of The Daily Janakantha, Sazzadur Rahman, Deputy Editor of The Business Standard, Mortuza Haider Liton, Convener of ATMA, and Mizan Chowdhury, Co-convener of ATMA.

Key proposals put forward by ATMA for the upcoming fiscal year include merging the low and medium cigarette tiers, with a new price of BDT 90 for a pack of 10 sticks in the merged tier.

This price adjustment is designed to encourage low-income smokers to quit and discourage youth from starting.

Further, ATMA proposed maintaining the retail price of high-tier cigarettes at the existing BDT 140 for 10 sticks and raising the price of premium cigarettes to BDT 190 for a pack of 10.

The supplementary duty (SD) on all cigarette tiers should remain at the current 67%.

For bidis, ATMA recommended setting the retail price of non-filtered bidis at BDT 25 for 25 sticks and filtered bidis at BDT 20 for 20 sticks, both with a 45% SD. Similarly, for smokeless tobacco products, the retail price for 10 grams of jarda and gul should be BDT 55 and BDT 30, respectively, with a 60% SD.

The proposals also suggest retaining the existing 15% VAT on tobacco products and continuing the 1% health development surcharge (HDS).

ATMA's proposals, if implemented, could potentially raise an additional BDT 20,000 crore in revenue, which would support the government's fiscal targets and improve public health.

According to ATMA, the long-term impact of these measures would be the prevention of 1.7 million premature deaths in Bangladesh, including nearly 900,000 young people.

It is estimated that 37.8 million adults in Bangladesh use tobacco products, both smoked and smokeless.

Tobacco-related diseases claim 161,000 lives annually in the country, and the economic cost of tobacco use, in terms of medical expenses and lost productivity, amounted to BDT 30,560 crore in 2017-18.

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