Volume 1
The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee
- Date:
- 2000
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: The tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking : second report / Health Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.
77/92 page 75
![G) (k) (I) (m) (n) (0) (q) THE HEALTH COMMITTEE Ixxv We believe it is deplorable that so many local authorities have failed in their responsibilities to deter under age tobacco sales. Those not undertaking regular enforcement procedures should be named and shamed (paragraph 72). We regret the fact that the Scottish Office has not modified its guidance [on the use of children in test purchase cases], and call on the Secretary of State to make appropriate representations to achieve a uniformity of approach towards tackling sales of tobacco products to children (paragraph 73). The policy failure on youth access to tobacco results from both inadvertent and deliberate law breaking. This was recognized in the White Paper, which promised to draw up an enforcement protocol with local authorities to tackle both issues. We welcome this - the terms of the Children and Young Persons (Protection from Tobacco) Act need to be greatly strengthened - but we feel that the protocol will need to be strongly worded, and backed by both adequate resources and severe penalties for non- compliance, if it is to have any effect. We also note that, despite “lengthy discussions” having taken place, no such protocol has yet been agreed. With this in mind, it is our view that Government cannot simply shift the blame for lack of enforcement on to local authorities, trading standards officers and magistrates. It is essential that the Government issues clear guidelines and quickly develops effective protocols to ensure more test purchases take place and more convictions are secured. (Paragraph 74). We recommend that magistrates should be actively encouraged to pass deterrent sentences by means of guidance from central Government (paragraph 75). One possible way to enhance deterrence, would be to introduce a system of ‘negative licensing’. Rather than requiring all retailers to be licensed, this would simply forbid sale by those who have infringed the law. We believe that this would act as a potentially powerful deterrent. It would also be appealingly appropriate in that the punishment would fit the crime — “shopkeepers who sell to children can’t be trusted to retail tobacco responsibly, therefore should not be permitted to do it at all”. Such a system would also, we believe, act as an incentive for retailers and those aged 16 and over to involve themselves in proof of age schemes. However, perhaps the most attractive feature of negative licensing is that it would not require a new or extensive bureaucracy to support it. Existing local licensing boards could implement it as and when convictions occur. Alternatively, the Department might wish to assess the advantages of introducing a comprehensive licensing system for all retailers of tobacco, which would give consistency with the arrangements for the sale of alcohol (paragraph 76). We believe that the measures set out in this and the previous section will bring about significant reductions in the numbers taking up smoking. The tobacco industry’s public stance on children’s smoking is explicit: they see tobacco use as an adult activity, do not endorse underage sales and, and in some cases support an increase of the legal age to 18. On the other hand, as noted above, most smokers start as children and complete prevention of child access to the product would have serious repercussions for their profits. The companies’ response to the proposals made here will help establish where their priorities really lie (paragraph 77). The evidence we have reviewed from the advertising agencies leads us to conclude that, once more, voluntary agreements have served the industry well and the public badly. Regulations have been seen as hurdles to be overcome or side-stepped; legislation banning advertising as a challenge, a policy to be systematically undermined by whatever means possible. We recommend that any future regulation of marketing should be statutory, and overseen by an independent and powerful regulatory body which has the consumer’s interest at heart, such as the Tobacco Regulatory Authority which we propose below at paragraph 189 (paragraph 88). Most of the tobacco companies have sought to challenge the Government’s commitment to introduce an advertising ban in advance of the date for implementation set by the EU directive. The argument they have repeatedly advanced is that tobacco advertising does not increase consumption, it merely persuades smokers to switch brands. However, looking through the documents that the agencies themselves produced, this view is completely discredited (paragraph 89).](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32221083_0001_0077.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
