HEADLINES

• It is a myth that high duties on tobacco lead to increased smuggling
• NHS managers block operations to save money
• Wales: New tobacco control plan aims to reduce smoking
• China: Cost of smoking increased by 300% in less than a decade
• Guernsey lobby group has hopes for car smoking ban

• It is a myth that high duties on tobacco lead to increased smuggling

  
  Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health responds to a Guardian article citing tobacco industry assertions that a rise in tobacco tax is a gift to smugglers.
  

  "Your article reported the tobacco industry's assertion that "Treasury and Customs officials [need] to brace themselves for a tsunami of smuggled cigarettes", as "criminal gangs seek to cash in on the UK's exceptionally high tax rates on tobacco products" (Tobacco tax rise 'a gift to smugglers', 7 February). This is an old argument wheeled out every year in advance of the budget.
  
  As evidence the industry cites the 1990s, when tax increases were followed by tobacco smuggling ballooning out of control. Smuggling certainly did go up, due to a vast expansion in British cigarettes being sold overseas, destined to be smuggled straight back to the UK – with tobacco manufacturers benefiting from the increase in sales of their products at a cheaper tax-free price.
  
  George Osborne, sitting on the public accounts committee at the time, asked the manufacturers: "How can you possibly have sold cigarettes to Latvia, Kaliningrad, Afghanistan and Moldova in the expectation that those were just going to be used by the indigenous population and not in the expectation they would be smuggled? You must know these are places which are linked to organised crime."
  
  Scandalised by the behaviour of the tobacco industry, government put in place a tough anti-smuggling strategy, including fines of up to £5m for manufacturers who fail to control overseas sales. Following legal action, the major international manufacturers have all signed legally binding agreements to control smuggling and pay millions of euros to the EU and member states. The payments aren't called compensation, but it's clear the industry is being forced to pay for its past misbehaviour.
  
  So it wasn't disparities in tax that led to the growth in smuggling. And though you report that HM Revenue and Customs officials "admit that widening disparities between European tobacco tax rates are likely to be pounced on by industrial-scale tax evasion gangs", due to changes in tax and exchange-rates in Europe, the disparities are likely to decrease, not increase, over time.
  
  And now strong enforcement is in place there's no reason why, as the industry argues, "the volume of contraband sold on Britain's streets will rocket when excise duty goes up". Cracking down on smuggling, not cutting taxes, has brought tobacco tax fraud under control.
  
  As your article pointed out, since the anti-smuggling strategy started there has been a fall in smuggled cigarettes from over 20% of all smoked in the UK (and rising) to 11%. The benefit to government revenues is dramatic, with the annual tax take increasing by £1.7bn, and no evidence in the last two years – when taxes rose above inflation – that smuggling has started to go up again.
  
  The article states: "In 1993 the then chancellor Ken Clarke introduced a duty escalator to shore up hard-hit public finances." This is true but it was also introduced as a public health measure. Clarke said this approach "is the most effective way to reduce smoking". This view is supported by not just Action on Smoking and Health but also the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.
  
  That is why we and 60 other health organisations believe the government should increase the tax escalator from 2% to 5% above inflation in the upcoming budget – a move which will both increase government revenues and reduce smoking."

  Source: The Guardian, 24 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/h5vFao

• NHS managers block operations to save money

  A survey of family doctors has revealed that NHS managers are blocking some routine operations and appointments for patients to save money.

  For example, NHS North Yorkshire and York, the area's primary care trust, is planning to stop patients who smoke and obese patients from having routine hip and knee operations as it reduces the chance of successful outcomes.
  
  However, some health experts have expressed concern.  Clare Gerada, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said:  "The problem is that these [measures] are being introduced because of financial constraints. I am concerned that in one part of the country smokers and the obese won't get this surgery. I'd like to see the evidence and if it is so then why doesn't the rest of the NHS follow?"

  Source: The Guardian, 24 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/e1Zqn8

• Wales: New tobacco control plan aims to reduce smoking

  New plans have been announced to significantly reduce smoking rates in Wales.
  
  Tony Jewell, the Chief Medical Officer for Wales said the new scheme called The Tobacco Control Action Plan marks the start of a consultation.
  
  The plan builds on the Welsh Assembly Government's programme of measures to discourage young people from smoking and aims to drive down smoking levels to 16% by 2020.
  
  Dr Jewell said: "Just as Wales took a bold step in creating smoke-free environments in public places, the time is right to champion new approaches to further protect children from the harms of secondhand smoke."
   

  Source: The Press Association, 24 February 2011
  Link: http://bit.ly/dHqPl5

• China: Cost of smoking increased by 300% in less than a decade

  According to research published in Tobacco Control the costs of smoking has soared by more than 300% in the last decade.
  
  With more than 300 million smokers in China in 2010, the country is both the largest consumer and producer of tobacco.
  
  In 2003 smoking cost China US$17.1 billion (310.65), rising to just under $29 billion by 2008, the equivalent to 0.7% of the country's GDP.
  
  Healthcare costs directly attributable to smoking amounted to US$4.2 billion in 2003 and $6.2 billion in 2008. Indirect costs including those for carers and lost productivity as a result of smoking related illnesses came to $12.9 billion and $22.7 billion, respectively.
  
  The authors say, "China's economy continues to grow, the economic costs of smoking in the future will escalate if smoking prevalence cannot be substantially reduced. Stronger tobacco control measures must be taken without delay".

  Source: Medical News Today, 22 February 2011
  Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/217086.php

• Guernsey lobby group has hopes for car smoking ban

  The Gurnsey Adolescent Smoke-Free Project hopes the island will be the first place in Europe to ban smoking in cars carrying children.
  
  Alun Williams the chair of the group said, "We really want this to be the first authority and the first community in Europe to introduce it. We feel it would send out such an important message about smoking."
  
  Mr Williams added, "Our aim is to reduce the instances of smoking amongst young people in Guernsey by preventing young people being exposed to smoking in a whole variety of places."
   

  Source: BBC News, 23 February 2011
  Link: http://bbc.in/hWdZcS