Tories to oppose tobacco restrictions

The Government faces a major battle over its plans to ban the display of cigarettes in shops and remove the logos from cigarette packets.

Despite initial hints from David Cameron that he supported it, both the Tories and Liberal Democrats are now planning to block the move when it comes before Parliament on the grounds that it will have no effect on sales to children and will cost retailers thousands of pounds. 

Ministers are also planning to ban vending machines in pubs and to stop manufacturers selling packs of ten – measures which a growing band of critics say are draconian.

They claim moves to force cigarettes under the counter could cost every corner shop up to £5,000.

It is also feared the proposed law will encourage the illicit trade in counterfeit, poor quality cigarettes often sold illegally in pubs and clubs. More than 70 MPs have signed an early day motion in Parliament raising concerns over the measures.

The Tory shadow health minister Mike Penning told the BBC Politics Show this weekend: "There's no evidence that it will actually stop people smoking and there's a lot of evidence that it will actually destroy local corner shops and newsagents that are already suffering now."

"It's a legal product – why are we pushing it under the counter? It's not the answer to the problem."

He added: "If you get rid of packs of ten the casual smoker will have to buy 20s, and all the evidence shows they will smoke more. The more products you have on you, the more chance you'll smoke them, and why do that? It just seems totally illogical."

The Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman Norman Lamb MP told the programme: "I supported the smoking ban in public places and there was a clear political consensus in favour of that, and it has worked, it has achieved a reduction in smoking levels."

"I'm not sure there is the same consensus now. You could end up with these proposals being completely counterproductive."

A government consultation on the measure has prompted 100,000 responses and Dawn Primarolo, the health minister, is due to announce her response in the next few weeks. The Department of Health argues that it is seeking to "denormalise" smoking.

Source: The Telegraph, 15 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/5pc2r4

MP: Ban cigarette vending machines immediately

A Labour MP has called for a complete ban on cigarette vending machines to be enacted as soon as possible.

Chris Ruane has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) — a petition for MPs — calling for "urgent" action on cigarette vending machines.

He said: "The British Heart Foundation estimates that over 46,000 11 to 15 year old regular smokers bought cigarettes through vending machines in England and Wales in 2006 and (this house) calls for legislation to be included in the 2008 Queen's Speech to bring an immediate end to the sale of tobacco products from vending machines."

The Government is currently considering its options following a consultation on a vending machine ban.

A recent British Institute of Inn Keepers' (BII) poll of members showed that a total of 42% said they believed a ban on vending machines would be bad for trade.

“We do not believe that vending in pubs is in any way a significant source of cigarettes for underage smokers, and as with the smoking ban, the effect will be to drive customers away,” said BII chief executive John McNamara at the time. “To use a sledgehammer again is, frankly, nuts.”

Vending machines account for just 1% of all tobacco sales.

Source: The Morning Advertiser, 14 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6f2gy3

Australia: Victorian men quitting smoking, living longer

Many Victorian males now outlive their Japanese counterparts because of a rise in the life expectancy, attributed to quitting smoking.

A Victorian male born in 2006 can expect to live for 80 years, overtaking the world's longest-living men, the Japanese, according to figures released by the Victorian government on Sunday.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said in 2006 Japanese men had an average life expectancy of 79 years.

"One of the reasons advanced for the relative improvement in male life expectancy is because more men are giving up smoking, with deaths from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease falling quicker in men than in women," Mr Andrews said.

However, women are still outliving their male counterparts.

In 1999, life expectancy for men was 76.7 years and 82.0 years for women.

The new figures show the life expectancy of Victorian men has improved by 3.3 years over the past decade, while women's has increased 2.3 years to 84.3 years.

Men who live in Nillumbik, a local government area in Melbourne's north, had the highest male life expectancy of 82.8 years.

Inner Melbourne had the highest female life expectancy of 87.9 years.

"These new figures really do mean Victoria is the place to live, work and raise a family," Mr Andrews said.

Source: The Age, 16 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6y483l

Global tobacco controls to be debated in South Africa

The illicit global tobacco trade is on the agenda as more than 150 countries meet in South Africa to discuss an international protocol to eliminate the illegal crossborder market.

The six-day meeting falls under the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that sets out measures to fight tobacco use through global cooperation.

"This is a global epidemic," Haik Nikogosian, head of the tobacco control secretariat, told AFP. "You don't fight a global epidemic nationally -- you fight it globally."

As one of the most widely embraced treaties in the United Nations history, the FCTC aims for the illicit trade protocol to be adopted by 2010.

The issue is a fiscal concern for governments who lost billions of dollars to the trade and also faced health and policing challenges due to greater use of cheap cigarettes and the involvement of organised crime.

"Governments are losing billions of dollars to illicit trade. The estimate is between 40 and 50 billion dollars per year," said Nikogosian. "Many governments are losing amounts which are equivalent to their health budgets."

Also to be discussed at the conference is a report on alternatives to tobacco growing. Production of the crop has largely shifted to developing countries, where economies have a strong dependence on it.

Tobacco use has also rocketed in developing countries.

"Tobacco use is more or less being curbed now in developed world," said Nikogosian. "But in the developing world it's still increasing simply because the market has shifted there."

"The developing countries are very interested in this protocol and treaty issues because they in a way are taking the burden of the heightened regulations in the west."

Key decisions are also expected on the interference of the tobacco industry, packaging of products with picture-based health warnings, and tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

The existing FCTC agreement, signed in February 2005, aims to rein in the estimated five million annual deaths caused by smoking, which the WHO says will double by 2020 if nothing is done.

Source: IC Publications, 17 November 2008
Link: http://tinyurl.com/6ffr39