Banning the display of tobacco products is unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted in Scotland, says the TMA

Responding to the announcement of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill, Christopher Ogden, Chief Executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), commented:

“This bill contains provisions that would implement a ban on the display of tobacco products at the point of sale.

“The proposed ban is unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted by many stakeholders, especially the retailers whose businesses will be adversely affected to no purpose. There is no credible evidence to support the government stated objective that a ban would reduce youth smoking. Only this week the Prime Minister of New Zealand said he had no intention of introducing a ban as there is no international evidence that it actually works and it’s hugely expensive to do it.

“We hope that common sense will prevail and the Bill will be amended when it is debated in the Scottish Parliament. The last thing we need in the midst of recession [2] is further regulation that will facilitate illicit trade in tobacco products and impact adversely on thousands of small retailers and the communities they serve.”

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For further information and/or interviews, please contact:

Dirk Vennix, TMA Director of Communications
Press Line: 020 7544 0111
Mobile: 07872376748
Email: dvennix@the-tma.org.uk

Notes to the Editor:

[1] The TMA is the trade association for tobacco companies that operate in the UK. Our members are British American Tobacco UK Ltd (www.bat.com), Gallaher Ltd (a member of the JTI Group of companies – www.jti.com), and Imperial Tobacco Ltd. (UK). (www.imperial-tobacco.com)

[2] The economic recession is likely to tempt more people to access cheaper smuggled product from unscrupulous black market traders, who do not care who they sell to and who do not ask for proof of age. There is also a danger that the government proposal to ban the display of tobacco products in shops will play into the hands of criminals trying to infiltrate the retail network.

[3] In 2006/7 the UK government estimated that up to 17% of cigarette and up to 59% of hand rolling tobacco consumption was smuggled. The revenue lost due to tobacco smuggling could be as much as £3.1 billion.

[4] The TMA strongly agrees with the Scottish government that children should not smoke and should be actively discouraged from doing so. The TMA is a principal stakeholder in CitizenCard (www.citizencard.com), the UK’s leading proof-of-age scheme [1.9m cards issued] and the No ID, No Sale (NINS) (www.noidnosale.com) campaign operated by CitizenCard which promotes all PASS accredited (Government approved) Proof of Age / ID schemes.