HEAVY TOBACCO DUTY

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1940, Page 8

HEAVY TOBACCO DUTY

By Telegraph—Press Association.

TROOPS IN EGYPT SUFFER

Auckland, Sept. 11. Tobacco and cigarettes constitute a problem to the New Zealand soldiers of the first echelon in Egypt, the majority of whom apparently do not relish the Egyptian product. Requests have repeatedly been made to parents and l'riends in New Zealand to forward tobacco and cigarettes that are more in keeping with the soldiers' tastes, but an almost prohibitive economic factor arises, making it encumbent on the soldier to pay about 2/3 in duty on a tin of tobacco worth 2/- sent from home. "Is there no way that our boys can obtain such a modest comfort without being exploited and imposed upon in this extraordinary way?" asks the father of an Auckland soldier in a letter to the editor of the New Zealand^ Herald. "It would surely be a simple matter," he suggests, "to obtain New Zealand tobacco for our troops wherever they might be. At a very moderate estimate a package of 10001b. of tobacco would give the troops in Egypt smokes for about a week. "It can easily be figured what such an arrangement would mean to our growers," the writer continues. "But why under existing conditiqps should we pay duty here and, in addition, the boys over there be asked to pay duty on the New Zealand retail value? I suggest that there is an opportunity here for the Government to do everything possible to remove quickly this injustice to the troops." The possibility of sending large quantities of tobacco and cigarettes to Egypt was investigated by the patriotic authorities. The high duty imposed on tobacco imported into Egypt made the scheme impracticable, but the Egyptian Government relaxed the tariff to allow cigarettes and tobacco in gift parcels free entry. In all parcels so far sent by the patriotic committees tins of cigarettes have been included, and more will be packed with the consignment designed to -reach Egypt for Christmas. "We do not pay duty or saies tax in New Zealand on tobacco and cigarettes packed in the gift parcels," said Mr. J. A. C. Allum, chairman of the Auckland Metropolitan Patriotic Committee, yesterday. "It is unfortunate that, duty on parents' parcels could not also be removed at the other end, but the soldier stationed there is subject to the law of , that land, and it cannot easily be altereci."