The Majlis Integration Commission has proposed legislation to increase the prices on imported, joint venture and domestically produced cigarettes by 19%, 12% and 40% respectively, said Iraj Harirchi, spokesman of the Health Ministry on Monday. “If passed in the Majlis open session, the law will be implemented from the current Iranian year (started March 20) and will significantly decrease tobacco consumption in the country,” he said, IRNA reported. The bill should be discussed at the open session before May 29 when the term of the present Majlis comes to an end. At present, there are 10 million smokers in Iran, and 600,000 are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke, half of whom are children.
