The majority of adult smokers (more than 80%) think it is important that Government, local councils and Trading Standards raise awareness of the need for proof of age for tobacco sales but around a quarter of smokers believe these stakeholders should be doing more to protect retailers by making it clear what the minimum age is and highlighting the requirement for proof of age when purchasing cigarettes.

In response to the survey’s findings, Christopher Ogden, Chief Executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), said: “For the last three years it has been illegal in the UK to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18. The TMA believes that children should not smoke and should be discouraged from doing so. It is clear from our survey that more needs to be done by all stakeholders involved in youth access prevention to raise the levels of awareness of the minimum age and the need for proof of age for tobacco sales. The key issue is for retailers to continue to establish age at point-of-sale before they allow a purchase to be made.”

It is essential that retailers establish the age of prospective purchasers at the point of sale and it is for this reason the TMA is a principal stakeholder in CitizenCard, the UK’s leading proof of age scheme with 2 million cards issued. CitizenCard is Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) accredited. The TMA also supports the ‘No ID, No Sale’ campaign (NINS) operated by CitizenCard.

Raising awareness for the legal age of sale in legitimate retail outlets is only one part of the challenge of preventing young people from trying to buy cigarettes in shops. The TMA’s survey indicates that 79% of smokers believe that the most effective measure to stop underage people from starting to smoke or continuing to smoke is to increase enforcement activities and fines for retailers who sell tobacco products to underage persons.

Christopher Ogden added, “We fully support sanctions against those few rogue shop owners who sell to underage people. The illegal trade in tobacco is another matter however and smugglers are innovative and relentless at finding new ways to infiltrate the market. Criminals operating in the illicit market show no concern for those they sell to and as a result many under the legal age gain access to illicit tobacco. We fully support HMRC and the UKBA in their enforcement activity against smugglers and in these times of austerity we hope that funding continues to be made available to crack down on this major source of lost revenue to the Government.”

For further information please contact:

Dirk Vennix,
TMA Director of Communications
e: dvennix@the-tma.org.uk
24 hour media line: 020 7544 0111

Notes to Editors:

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 TMA is a principal stakeholder in CitizenCard (citizencard.com), the UK’s leading proof of age scheme [2 million cards issued] and the No ID, No Sale (NINS: noidnosale.com) campaign operated by CitizenCard, which is a Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) accredited ID scheme.
The NINS campaign has engaged more than 130,000 retailers nationwide and created a culture in which young people expect to be asked to prove their age, and in which retailers accept only the correct ID.
Further details of the schemes mentioned above can be found on the following websites:
• CitizenCard – www.citizencard.com
• No ID, No Sale – www.noidnosale.com
• PASS – http://www.pass-scheme.org.uk/

3. The legal minimum age for buying tobacco products is 18 years UK-wide since 1st September 2008 when Northern Ireland also raised the minimum age from 16 to 18.

4. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act (2008) and Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act (2008) were implemented in England and Wales in April 2009, meaning that after this date retailers who are prosecuted for flouting the minimum age law three times in a two year period could have their right to sell tobacco suspended for 12 months. Scotland recently passed similar legislation in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Bill (2009).

5. HM Revenue & Customs estimates that in 2008/9 up to 17% of cigarette and up to 53% of handrolling tobacco consumption was smuggled.

6. Further information about the issue of youth access prevention can be found on the TMA’s website – www.the-tma.org.uk/policy-legislation/youth-access-prevention

“ The TMA completely agrees with the 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 [1.8m cards issued] and the No ID, No Sale (www.noidnosale.com) campaign operated by CitizenCard which promotes all PASS accredited (Government approved) Proof of Age / ID schemes.
“The key issue is that retailers must be able to establish the age of any potential customer before a sale is made. We fully support sanctions against those retailers who sell to young people, and welcome stronger enforcement of the law to prevent underage sales.
“The NINS campaign has engaged over 130,000 retailers nationwide and created a culture in which young people expect to be asked to prove their age, and in which retailers accept only the correct ID.
“The TMA welcomes all new initiatives to combat illegal sales, especially the deep-rooted problem of tobacco smuggling, and we also applaud the recent successes of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in making significant seizures of illicit tobacco.”

“The tobacco industry has been fully committed to tackling this problem for many years and the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between the TMA’s member companies and HMRC have created a comprehensive framework for co-operation. This is aimed at combating the smuggling of both genuine and counterfeit tobacco products into the UK as well as seeking to deter all aspects of the illicit trade. More recently we have provided anti-counterfeit technology to enable law enforcement bodies to readily identify whether tobacco products are genuine or not.”

There is particular concern over the Government’s proposed legislation to ban tobacco displays in shops. The serious unintended consequences of this proposal have been ignored by the government. We believe, as recent evidence in Ireland proves, with the seizure of significant quantities of counterfeit cigarettes of the top two brands in Ireland complete with dual language and pictorial health warnings as well as tax stamps, that organised crime will exploit the display ban. The legislation will make illicit, unregulated tobacco products easier to sell.

Christopher Ogden added:

“Smugglers are innovative and relentless, finding new ways to infiltrate the market as demonstrated by ‘Cheap Whites’ [2] that are now appearing on UK streets. In addition, those operating in the illicit market show no concern for those they sell to and as a result many under the legal age gain access to illicit tobacco.“

“What we need now is a multi-agency approach. We wish to engage with all relevant stakeholders, including LACORS and the public health community, with whom we have a common cause in meeting the challenge of tackling tobacco smuggling. To this end we shall be liaising further with the Department of Health to assess the options for further action.”

For further information and/or interviews please contact:

Dirk Vennix, TMA Director of Communications
t: 020 7544 0111 e: dvennix@the-tma.org.uk
m: 07872376748

Notes to Editors:

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. HMRC defines “cheap whites’ as brands produced by smaller, overseas manufacturers that make no legitimate supplies of any tobacco products to the UK. There is often little or no legitimate market for these brands anywhere in the world. Effectively, these products – commonly known as “cheap whites”– are produced for smugglers. In some cases “cheap whites” are produced in countries outside the European Union, such as Russia, and smuggled into the UK where they are illegally sold at a street price of between £2.50 – £3.00 per packet. The prevalence of “cheap whites” is believed to be increasing.

3. HM Revenue & Customs estimates that in 2006/7 up to 17% of cigarette and up to 59% of handrolling tobacco consumption was smuggled. Crossborder shopping accounts for a further 8% of cigarette consumption and 8% of handrolling tobacco consumption.

4. The incidence of tobacco smuggling into the UK ‘exploded’ in the 1990s as a direct result of
a Government policy to raise tobacco taxation above the rate of inflation. Since 2000/1 this
has resulted in almost £26 billion in lost tax revenue with HM Treasury losing up to £3.1
billion per annum (2006-2007), equivalent to £8.5 million per day.

5. Further information about the issue of tackling tobacco smuggling can be found on the TMA’s website – www.the-tma.org.uk.

In the lead up to the age change No ID, No Sale packs have been distributed by representatives of our member companies (British American Tobacco, Gallaher Ltd and Imperial Tobacco Ltd) to tobacco retailers across the country. Retailers may also have received similar information from the Department of Health. We urge retailers to make use of the guidance provided in these packs and to ensure that they display the new statutory notice.

However, enforcing the legal age of sale in legitimate retail outlets is only one part of the problem of preventing young people from obtaining cigarettes. A recent survey (1) conducted by Trading Standards in the North West of England shows that the most common source of cigarettes obtained by young people are not retailers but rather the informal economy; ice cream vans, car boot sales or neighbours. Action must be taken to clamp down on these illegal sales routes.

The TMA believes that children should not smoke and that smoking is a matter of informed adult choice.

Notes to Editors

1. Smoking survey finds shocking results. Wigan Evening Post 18 September 2007

2. Further details of the campaigns mentioned above can be found on the following websites

• CitizenCard  – www.citizencard.com
• No ID, No Sale -  www.noidnosale.com
• Department of Health – www.tobaccoagechange.co.uk

In February 1999, the TMA became a founder stakeholder of CitizenCard, the industry funded proof of age scheme. This provided a means for retailers to check the ages of under age looking customers before a sale was made. As well as making CitizenCards freely available to teenagers to enable them to prove their age it soon became clear that another piece was required to complete the proof of age jigsaw.

As a result, TMA members – Gallaher, Imperial, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris Ltd – have provided the funding to launch the No ID No Sale campaign. The launch comes as a recent survey has revealed that 96% of tobacco retailers in the UK have experienced attempts at under-age purchase and 84% have suffered abuse upon refusing a sale.

The aim of the No ID No Sale campaign is to create a culture of expectation, at the point of sale, that age ID should either be offered or produced on demand. By making this the norm, retailers will be in a stronger position to say “No”.

From launch day on 23 January, the sales representatives from the TMA member companies will personally deliver No ID No Sale materials to retailers and brief them on their responsibilities. Full coverage of the nearly 100,000 UK-wide retail outlets for tobacco products is expected to be achieved within three months.

Tim Lord, Chief Executive of the TMA, commented: “ We have consistently stated our support for youth smoking prevention measures. Practical steps such as CitizenCard, which we have fully supported since its launch, are the effective way forward. Now we are building on this with No ID No Sale which has been made possible thanks to funding from our members – Gallaher, Imperial, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris Ltd. “

No ID No Sale has the support of Melanie Johnson MP, Minister for Public Health, the Trading Standards Institute and the retail trade community. The campaign will run as a further dimension to the CitizenCard scheme with the full support of all its stakeholders.

Notes to editors:

1. No ID No Sale promotes the use of ID approved by the Home Office including: UK passports, photo-driving licences and ID cards displaying the PASS (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) hologram including CitizenCard, Connexions, Young Scot and Prove-It.

2. The survey exposing the level of attempts to purchase tobacco products was conducted by the Tobacco Alliance in December 2003. 1600 independent retailers responded to the survey.

3. CitizenCard, which is coordinating the No ID No Sale campaign, is a non-profit organization supported by: the Association of Convenience Stores, Camelot, Experian, Ladbrokes, the National Federation of Retail Newsagents, Somerfield Stores and the TMA.

4. The TMA has supported CitizenCard to the extent that it is now the UK’s largest proof of age card scheme. Thanks in particular to funding from British American Tobacco, CitizenCards are available to all under 18s free of charge.