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Journal of HealtH InequalItIes 2018 / Volume 4 / Issue 2, June
SPECIAL ARTICLE J Health Inequal 2018; 4 (2): 1–4
Submitted: 23.12.2018 , accepted: 02.01.2019
Tobacco control policy development and progress
in Georgia
George Bakhturidze
FCTC Implementation and Monitoing Center in Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia
AbstrAct
Georgia is one of the countries with the highest smoking rates in the World Health Organization (WHO)
European Region. e STEPS survey conducted in 2016 by the WHO demonstrated that 31% of adult
Georgians (57% of men and 12.2% of women) use some kind of tobacco product. Tobacco consumption
in Georgia causes 11,400 deaths annually, including at least 2,100 among non-smokers. is tobacco
epidemic costs the country 2.43% of its GDP every year.
Key words:
Address for correspondence: George Bakhturidze, FCTC Implementation and Monitoing Center in Georgia,
4, Vani St., 0119, Tbilisi, Georgia, e-mail: iayd@yahoo.com
DOI:
IntroductIon
Georgia’s National Tobacco Control Legislation was
updated in May 2017, with most regulations taking eect
on 1 May 2018. In general, smoking is now prohibited
in public places and public transport, with afew exemp-
tions. Bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and spon-
sorship are scheduled to take eect in 2021, and adisplay
ban and plain packaging requirement in 2023.
e Georgian Parliament created a special consul-
tative body for health promotion and prevention under
its healthcare committee in October 2017. Its aim is for
smoking prevalence in Georgia to decrease by 50% by
2030, and to become asmoke-free country by 2040. To
achieve these goals, Georgia needs to:
• enforce its new comprehensive smoke-free regulations
rigo rously,
• continuously increase tobacco taxes,
• strengthen current regulations, including on e-cigarettes
and novel tobacco products,
• promote full implementation of the Framework Con-
vention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the European
Union (EU) Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) #40,
• join the FCTC’s Illicit Trade Protocol to prevent illegal
turnover of tobacco products,
• invest in sustainable tobacco control with appropriate
government funding.
smoKIng prevAlence And tobAcco
AvAIlAbIlIty
Tobacco use in the former Soviet republic of Geor-
gia has increased dramatically since 1990, mostly due to
the transition from astate to amarket economy and the
arrival of the transnational tobacco companies (TTCs).
Prevalence of tobacco use among men increased from
53.3% in 2001 to 59.8% in 2008, and among women from
6.3% to 14.9% in the same period [1, 2].
Currently, Georgia is one of the countries with the
highest smoking rates in the World Health Organization
(WHO) European Region. e STEPS survey conduct-
ed in 2016 by the World Health Organization showed
that 31% of adult Georgians (57% of men and 12.2%
of women) use some kind of tobacco product, which
exceeded both the average rate worldwide (23%) and in
Europe (29%). e survey also revealed that 25.3% of
adult smokers in Georgia had attempted to quit smoking
during the previous year [3].
e prevalence of smoking among adolescents was
alarmingly high in 2008, when it stood at 16% among
16-year-olds. In this cohort, 12% were regular smokers
and 1.1% consumed 20 or more cigarettes per day. Buy-
ing cigarettes was not aproblem for 60% of the adoles-
cents who participated in the study. Among them, 30%
had begun using tobacco products by the age of 14 and
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George Bakhturidze
Journal of HealtH InequalItIes 2018 / Volume 4 / Issue 2, June
10% by the age of 10. Additionally, 87% of adolescents
said they had afriend who smoked [4, 5]. According to
the latest survey, conducted in 2014, as many as 12.3%
of teenagers aged 13 to 15 years used tobacco products,
including 16.5% of boys and 7.8% of girls [6].
In addition, the non-smoking population in Georgia
is exposed to second-hand smoke daily, including more
than 40% of children [4-7]. Finally, 77% of Georgians
can easily buy tobacco products at points of sale [6].
HeAltH burden And ImpAct of smoKIng
Tobacco consumption is the number one risk fac-
tor for lung cancer and other cancers, strokes, heart
attacks and other cardiovascular diseases such as chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is also asso-
ciated with infertility, congenital abnormalities, chronic
diseases, and other severe health problems [8]. e cost
of treating such diseases represents the direct economic
burden that tobacco poses, and is very high.
e global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 7 million
people each year, and over 890,000 non-smokers die
from exposure to second-hand smoke. Around 80% of
these people are residents of low- and middle-income
countries [9]. Tobacco consumption in Georgia causes
11,400 deaths annually, among them at least 2,100 non-
smokers [10].
Besides mortality, the indirect impact of tobacco use
is also signicant, including adecrease in productivity
and performance caused by tobacco-related diseases.
ese losses are both economic and social in character.
e tobacco epidemic costs Georgia 2.43% of its GDP
each year [10]. It also harms the environment, contribut-
ing to res and soil depletion [11, 12].
tobAcco tAxAtIon polIcy
Aer the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia’s gov-
ernment welcomed the tobacco industry by allowing them
to sell tobacco tax-free. Between 1991 and 1997 there was
no tax on either locally produced or imported cigarettes.
is situation changed in 1997 when imported cigarettes
were levied aspecic excise and customs tax of 0.25 GEL
(0.19 USD) and 0.19 GEL (0.15 USD) per pack of ltered
and non-ltered cigarettes, respectively [13]. Between
1998 and 2004 the tax rates remained stable, but their val-
ues were eroded by ination, which hovered around 5%
for most years, with apeak of 19% in 1999 [14].
In 2005, the tax more than doubled for imported
ltered cigarettes and more than tripled for domestic
ltered cigarettes. Tobacco companies had six months to
prepare for this increase, allowing them to pre-purchase
tax stamps with the lower 2004 value for release in 2005,
thus achieving tax savings [15]. is maneuver resulted
in an unexpected increase in tobacco tax revenue in the
second part of 2004 and disappointing revenue in 2005.
Tobacco excise tax revenue in 2005 was 72 million GEL,
about 4.4 million less than in 2004 [15].
e tobacco industry was able to manipulate the sto-
ry about the decline in tax revenue – which the industry
itself had caused – in order to persuade the government
to reduce the excise tax in 2006 ‘to decrease smuggling’.
is scheme was adevastating blow to Georgia’s tobacco
tax policy, and it took the country several years to restore
the 2005 rates.
In 2010, the excise tax on imported and local ciga-
rettes became equal. Periodic increases followed, begin-
ning in 2013 [16].
Georgia adopted amixed tobacco tax system in 2015
by adding an ad valorem component to the excise duty.
e base for calculating the ad valorem tax is the retail
prices set each year by order of the Ministry of Finance
[16]. Following the latest increase, in 2017, ltered ciga-
rettes now incur an excise tax of 1.70 GEL (0.7 USD) per
20 cigarettes, and non-ltered cigarettes incur an excise
tax of 0.60 GEL (0.25 USD), regardless of their origin.
Each pack is also levied a10% ad-valorem tax [16].
Excise taxes are levied on pipe/loose tobacco at
35 GEL (14.5 USD) per 1 kg. is translates to 0.50 GEL
(0.2 USD) per pack, using 0.7 g of tobacco per cigarette,
a rate lower than non-ltered cigarettes. Only about
2.5% of smokers in Georgia use roll-your-own tobacco
(ISSA 2016). All tobacco products are also subject to
18% VAT [16].
On August 1, 2017, Georgia began to tax e-cigarettes
(0.2 GEL, or 0.08 USD, per 1 mg of liquid) as well as
cartridge and IQOS devices (1.7 GEL, or 0.7 USD, per
piece) [16].
tobAcco control legIslAtIon
Georgia’s parliament adopted its rst tobacco con-
trol law in 2003. In December 2005 it ratied the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),
which came into force in the country on May 15, 2006.
Georgia modied its tobacco control law in 2008, but no
enforcement mechanisms were added [17, 18].
In 2013, the Georgian government adopted two
decrees laying out the main directions for tobacco con-
trol in the country. Decree № 196 on the Approval of
aTobacco Control National Strategy stipulated concrete,
measurable objectives, an action plan, as well as tobacco
tari and tax measures on tobacco products [19]. Subse-
quently, aNational Action Plan on Tobacco Control was
adopted for the purposes of implementing the National
Strategy [20].
e most recent legislative changes were made in
May 2017, and most regulations took eect on 1 May
2018. In general, current regulations 1) prohibit smoking
in public places and public transport with afew exemp-
tions, 2) completely ban tobacco advertising, promotion
and sponsorship, outdoor and indoor, as of 2021, 3) ban
tobacco product displays and mandate plain packaging,
as of 2023 [21].
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Journal of HealtH InequalItIes 2018 / Volume 4 / Issue 2, June
Tobacco control policy development and progress in Georgia
publIc AttItudes towArds tobAcco
control meAsures
e majority of Georgians support the strengthen-
ing of tobacco control measures, including an increase
in tobacco taxation. A 2008 survey of public attitudes
towards the prohibition of tobacco promotion and
advertising in public areas, at workplaces, in restau-
rants, and in public transportation, revealed that public
support for such bans averaged 83%. e strongest sup-
port was found in the age group of 56-70 years, where
it reached 98.2%. Between 88.6% and 98.9% of the sur-
veyed non-smokers and ex-smokers supported the ban
of all types of tobacco advertising, as did 73-82% of reg-
ular smokers [22].
Similarly, asurvey published in 2012 demonstrated
that the level of public support for restrictions on the
tobacco trade (e.g. tobacco sales to minors, in individual
pieces, 50 m distance from schools, etc. and penalties for
non-compliance with tobacco control laws), is also high,
on average at 85.2% [23].
e most recent legal changes strengthening tobacco
control entered into force on 1 May 2018, and asurvey
conducted one month later showed that average public
support for the provisions stood at 85%, up from 79% in
2016 [24, 25].
eu-georgIA AssocIAtIon Agreement
In June 2013, the European Union (EU) and the
European Atomic Energy Community and their member
states on one side, and Georgia on the other, concluded
an Association Agreement, which includes aDeep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Area [26].
e Association Agreement, much of which took
eect in September 2014, set forth the framework for
cooperation between the parties on measures strength-
ening tobacco control, and the harmonization of their
laws in this eld. In particular, Article 283 reads:
e Parties shall develop their cooperation and harmo-
nise policies in counteracting and ghting fraud and smug-
gling of excisable products. is cooperation will include,
inter alia, the gradual approximation of excise rates on
tobacco products, as far as possible, taking into account
the constraints of the regional context, and in line with
the World Health Organisation Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control. To that end, the Parties will look to
strengthen their cooperation within the regional context.
Article 356 of the agreement reads as follows:
(c) prevention and control of non-communicable dis-
eases, mainly through the exchange of information and
best practices, promoting healthy lifestyles, physical activ-
ity, and addressing major health determinants, such as
nutrition, addiction to alcohol, drugs and tobacco;
(f) eective implementation of international health
agreements to which the Parties are party, in particular
the International Health Regulations and the Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control.
As to the latter, Georgia committed to submit within
one year from the Association Agreement’s eective date
an implementation plan and schedule, including consid-
eration of the country’s needs regarding the ght against
smuggling and protection of tax revenues.
Articles to be implemented within ve years of the
eective date of the agreement largely involve the ter-
minology and classication of tobacco products. ese
articles, for which an implementation plan and schedule
must be presented and agreed, determine the following:
• both types of excise duties shall be the same for all types
of cigarettes and represent at least 60% of the weight-
ed average retail sales price of cigarettes released for
consumption. at excise duty shall not be less than
90 EUR per 1, 000 cigarettes. e excise tax may or
may not include any customs fees and VAT;
• for cigars or cigarillos, excise duty shall be 5% of the
retail sales price or 12 EUR per 1,000 pieces or per
kilogram;
• from 1 January 2015, the excise duty on tobacco
intended for the rolling of cigarettes shall represent at
least 46% of the weighted average retail sales price, or
at least 54 EUR per kilogram. From January 1, 2018,
it shall be at least 48% of the retail sales price, or at
least 60 EUR per kilogram, and from 1 January 2020,
at least 50% of the retail sale price or at least 60 EUR
per kilogram;
• for other types of smoking tobaccos the excise duty
shall be 20% of the retail sales price, or 22 EUR per
kilogram.
Moreover, within three years of the agreement’s
eective date, Georgia shall implement Council Direc-
tive 2007/74/EC [27] of December 2007, On the Exemp-
tion from Value Added Tax and Excise Duty of Goods
Imported by Travellers from ird Countries [27].
e government of Georgia is implementing the
agenda and Association Agreement based on the Nation-
al Action Plan. In June 2014, Georgia and the EU agreed
on the terms of the association agenda, thereby setting
priorities for the implementation of their obligations
prescribed by the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade
Area (DCFTA) components and the EU-Georgia Asso-
ciation Agreement for the years 2014-2016. e coun-
try developed the National Action Plan for 2015 that
duly provided for the gradual increase of tobacco prod-
ucts excise rates, and their approximation to the rates
prescribed by EU standards (per Article 285), and the
implementation of the measures set forth in the National
Action Plan for 2013-2018 on tobacco control in Georgia
(per clause “f” of Article 356).
endgAme polIcy And recommendAtIons
In 2017, the Georgian parliament created a special
consultative body for health promotion and disease pre-
vention under its healthcare committee. e body aims
to halve tobacco consumption by 2030 and for Georgia
4
George Bakhturidze
Journal of HealtH InequalItIes 2018 / Volume 4 / Issue 2, June
to become a smoke-free country by 2040. In order to
achieve these goals, Georgia needs to eectively enforce
its smoke-free regulations, permanently increase taxes,
strengthen regulations on e-cigarettes and novel tobacco
products, and promote full implementation of the FCTC
and the EU Tobacco Products Directive. e country also
needs to join the FCTC’s Illicit Trade Protocol to prevent
illegal dealing in tobacco products. Proper investment in
tobacco control, with appropriate funding from the gov-
ernment, will be crucial in achieving these goals.
dIsclosure
e author reports no conict of interests.
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