Country Overview
Key Facts
Number of Employees: Approximately 350
Main Brands:
Derby, Marlboro, Next
Welcome to Tabacalera Costarricense S.A., Philip Morris International’s affiliate in Costa Rica. Tabacalera Costarricense S.A. was founded in 1932 and shares were acquired by Philip Morris International in 1975. Today we manufacture products for the Costa Rican market in our production facility in Heredia.
Our main brands include Marlboro, Derby, the number one brand in Costa Rica, and Next.
We employ approximately 350 people in Costa Rica, including over 100 in our Heredia factory.
We have an active charitable contributions program that provides funding and support to education and environmental programs, as well as to programs to prevent domestic violence.
We also supported and encouraged local cultural and artistic programs.
Smoking and Health
Tobacco products, including cigarettes, are dangerous and addictive. There is overwhelming medical and scientific evidence that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other serious diseases.
Addiction
All tobacco products are addictive. It can be very difficult to quit smoking, but this should not deter smokers who want to quit from trying to do so.
Secondhand Smoke
Public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes serious diseases in non-smokers, including lung cancer and heart disease. We believe the public health conclusions on secondhand smoke are sufficient to support smoking restrictions in public places.
Effective Regulation
Philip Morris International (PMI) supports comprehensive regulation of tobacco products based on the principle of harm reduction.
To be effective, tobacco regulatory policy must be evidence-based, apply to all tobacco products, and should take into account the views of all legitimate stakeholders including public health authorities, government finance authorities, tobacco manufacturers, and other members of the tobacco supply chain. Regulatory policy must consider the potential to trigger adverse consequences which undermine public health objectives, such as increasing the demand for illicit cigarettes. While we support comprehensive, effective tobacco regulation, we do not support regulation that prevents adults from buying and using tobacco products or that imposes unnecessary impediments to the operation of the legitimate tobacco market. In that regard, we oppose measures such as generic packaging, point of sale display bans, total bans on communications to adult consumers, and bans on the use of all ingredients in tobacco products.