France’s Parliament Approves Airline Tax To Fund HIV/AIDS Programs
France's Parliament has passed a measure that will add a tax of about $47 to airline tickets for travelers departing from French airports, the New York Times reports (Tagliabue, New York Times, 12/23/05). French President Jacques Chirac in January 2005 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, first announced the idea for the tax, which will be used to fund HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis programs. The airline industry is opposed to the tax. Anthony Concil, spokesperson for the International Air Transport Association, in August 2005 said that people in the tourist and service industry in developing nations risk being adversely affected by the program, adding, "Making air travel more expensive is not the way to help" developing countries (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 9/1/05). The tax will be implemented in July. Several countries -- including Algeria, Brazil, Britain, Chile and Norway -- support the tax and have indicated that they may implement similar programs (New York Times, 12/23/05).
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