A study has found that almost six out of 10 cigarettes smoked in Malaysia bypass government taxes. It's a problem the tobacco industry has complained about for years. Experts say the issue is also hurting the government's efforts to reduce smoking in the country as Rian Maelzer reports from Kuala Lumpur.  

Malaysia's government recently widened its public smoking ban to include even open-air eateries. But it remains easy to buy cigarettes that were smuggled into the country which cost a quarter the price of legal ones. A recent study found that nearly 6 out of 10 cigarettes smoked in Malaysia are illicit.

RIAN MAELZER KUALA LUMPUR "For the study, researchers rummaged through garbage cans and scoured streets and alleys, collecting 150,000 discarded cigarette packages."

CORMAC O'ROURKE MANAGING DIRECTOR, JAPAN TOBACCO INTERNATIONAL, MALAYSIA "The situation is out of control. Really it's driven by primarily excessive taxation. The big nail in the coffin of this if you like was the 36 percent excise increase in 2015 and this saw the drastic increase in the number of illegal cigarettes sales sold in Malaysia."

Based on incomes, the industry says cigarette prices here are the fourth highest in the world. Coupled with porous borders and lax enforcement, illicit cigarettes are costing the government around $1.5 billion a year in lost tax revenue, and failing to curb smoking.

AZRUL MOHD KHALIB GALEN CENTRE FOR HEALTH & SOCIAL POLICY "If the government is trying to crack down on smoking, it's a very poor way to go about it. You have a parallel market that is in a way pulling down the efforts as far as the progress you've made as far as anti-smoking campaigns. It is almost defeating the government's campaign."

CORMAC O'ROURKE MANAGING DIRECTOR, JAPAN TOBACCO INTERNATIONAL, MALAYSIA "When you have 60 percent of legitimate industry, regardless of the industry, which is essentially led by and driven by criminal gangs, that's a problem for any country."

The industry is urging a three-year freeze on tax increases, a ban on the transshipment of cigarettes through Malaysia to other countries and to only allow a single entry point for all tobacco products to aid enforcement. It might not prove popular with smokers, but health experts agree with Big Tobacco that Malaysia needs to stub out the problem of illegal cigarettes fast. Rian Maelzer, CGTN, Kuala Lumpur.