Policy responses and statements
- Name of organisation:
- Department of Health
- Name of policy document:
- Consultation on proposed tobacco control
regulations in England (under the Health Bill 2009)
- Deadline for response:
- 04 January 2010
Background: On 12 October 2009, the Department of
Health published the "Consultation on proposed tobacco control
regulations in England under the Health Bill 2009".
Protecting children from the health harms of smoking is a public health
priority for the Government. The Health Bill 2009, currently before
Parliament, includes proposals on two areas to safeguard children -
provisions to prohibit the display of tobacco products and regulation-making
powers to limit access to tobacco vending machines.
This consultation aims to inform parliamentary debate and gives an
important opportunity for stakeholders to consider the practical implications
of the details that are set out in the proposed regulations. Views
are also invited on the two Partial Impact Assessments, which accompany
the proposed regulations.
The consultation document includes four sets of proposed regulations,
covering:
tobacco displays - ensuring shopkeepers are able to serve their customers
without breaching the law; that customers are able to buy and view
products when they choose to; recognising the particular needs of duty-free
and bulk sale businesses, and allowing shopkeepers to restock
tobacco price lists - ensuring customers know which tobacco products
are for sale in shops; that shopkeepers can continue to trade efficiently,
and that customers know which products are available in tobacco vending
machines
specialist tobacconists - ensuring that regulation of tobacco displays
and advertising by specialist tobacconists recognises the nature of
the specialist trade while maintaining a consistency with the advertising
ban and removal of displays from other shops
tobacco vending machines – introducing requirements to safeguard
against underage sale of tobacco from vending machines
To assist stakeholders, a response pro-forma has also been provided.
COMMENTS ON
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
CONSULTATION ON PROPOSED TOBACCO CONTROL REGULATIONS
IN ENGLAND (UNDER THE HEALTH BILL 2009)
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is pleased to respond to the
Department of Health on the Consultation on proposed tobacco
control regulations in England (under the Health Bill 2009).
Question 1. Do you believe that these proposed regulations set out
an effective and workable approach to removing the display of tobacco products?
Not fully effective but workable. It would be best if tobacco products were
not visible to customers at all times, including during re-stocking, and the
best arrangement is for all tobacco products to be kept in drawers under the
counter, or in overhead cupboards facing the retailer (usually above the counter)
where the product is invisible to all customers including children. The
idea of retaining gantries and allowing areas as big as 1500 sq cm to be on
display during sales or restocking conflicts totally with the intent of the
legislation. An open door sized 30 cm by 50 cm (about A3 size) will expose
at least 20 full-face cigarette packs and retailers could always claim that
they were restocking. A compromise would be to suggest that any
flaps within such a store were packet sized, only exposing a single pack at
the time of sale, but totally out-of sight arrangements would be preferable
and need not be costly (the College understands the Co-operative chain may
be trialling such systems). In other jurisdictions tobacco companies
have modified gantries to provide extra illumination on products as they are
uncovered and the College fears this and other loopholes will be exploited
to increase exposure of individual brands.
Question 2. Do you believe that the proposed regulations are comprehensive
and cover all types of sales of tobacco?
The regulations as drafted give exemption for tobacco-associated products
such as cigarette papers, filters, lighters etc. There is a long history
of tobacco companies using such products as a means of continuing advertising
of their smoking materials. All tobacco products and smoking accessories
should be embraced by the out-of-sight regulations.
Question 3. Do you believe that these proposed regulations are proportionate
and avoid imposing unnecessary burdens on businesses to achieve removing
the display of tobacco products?
Yes
Question 4. Do you believe the proposed regulations are enforceable?
DoH proposes a passive scheme which assumes all those who sell tobacco products
are registered, but no such register is held. This will make enforcement
harder and limit the possibility of detecting sales of smuggled cigarettes
by unregistered retailers. The local authority will need to institute random
unannounced spot checks to support enforcement.
Question 5. Do you agree that having separate tobacco display areas
is an effective and workable approach for retailers of bulk tobacco products?
Yes - providing the products are plainly packaged and labelled without any
hint of advertising.
Question 6. Do you have any other comments on the proposed regulations?
RCPE is convinced of the need to restrict visibility and access to tobacco
by people under the age of 18
Wholesalers are largely excluded from the regulations. But many businesses
such as Costco, while legally wholesalers, sell to large groups of the general
public and should be subject to the same restrictions on the display of tobacco
products.
Question 7. Do you believe that these proposed regulations set out
an effective and workable approach to making information available for customers
and staff, without creating avenues for promotion?
Yes. If storage units are placed out of public view as recommended above then
price lists and labels will not be a problem for the retailer. However it would
be safer to restrict the size and format of labels as provided for in the regulations.
Question 8. Do you have any comments on the proposed requirements
for the design of price lists?
None
Question 9. Do you believe that the proposed sizes and allowable
features of labels on storage units will meet the efficient operation of
shops?
Yes
Question 10. Do you believe that these proposed regulations
are enforceable?
Yes – providing local trading standards officers are resourced to support
spot checks.
Question 11. Do you have any other comments on the proposed regulations?
None
Question 12. Do you believe that specialist tobacconists should
be allowed to display and advertise tobacco products in the ways set out
in the proposed regulations, given the nature of their premises?
Specialist retailers should be not be able to advertise or display products
openly within public view; this will include inside the shop if access is not
prohibited to those under 18. Any product displays that may be seen by
young people under 18 must be restricted to plain packaging, providing the
brand name and price only.
Question 13. Do you believe that these proposed regulations set out
an effective and workable approach for specialist tobacconists?
The proposed regulations are workable but will not be fully effective in reducing
the exposure of children and young people under the age of 18 to promotional
material about tobacco and related products. See response to Question 12 above.
Do you believe the proposed regulations are enforceable?
Yes – providing local trading standards officers are resourced to support
spot checks.
Question 14. Do you have any comments on the proposed regulations?
The regulations as proposed will be undermined if young people under the age
of 18 are permitted to enter specialist retail units where public restrictions
on advertising and display are relaxed.
Supplementary Consultation on Sales from Vending Machines
Question 1. Do you think the intended effect of prohibiting the sale
of tobacco from vending machines will be achieved by the proposed regulations?
Yes
Question 2. Do you think the proposed regulations will be enforceable?
Yes
Question 3. Do you have any other comments on the proposed vending
machine regulations?
The College considers that vending machines provide easy access to minors
and should be banned outright in England, as is proposed for Scotland
Copies of this response are available from:
Lesley Lockhart,
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,
9 Queen Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1JQ.
Tel: 0131 225 7324 ext 608
Fax: 0131 220 3939
[23 December 2009]
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