[Intl-tobacco] Hungary: Tobacco industry smoking hot over advertising ban (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Tobacco industry smoking hot over advertising ban
by Beáta Pál
Source: Budapest Sun, Thursday, 1/18/01

THE Hungarian cigarette industry has reacted with shock at Parliament’s
decision to ban all tobacco advertising in printed materials from July and
from all other media from January next year. But Zsuzsa Suhajda, legal
advisor to the consumer protection unit of the Ministry of Economics said,
"the law is in accordance with EU practice and here in Hungary we should
pay attention to the consumers and protect our young people from these
images".

Both the Ft212 billion ($752 million) advertising industry and the Ft250
billion ($886 million) tobacco manufacturing sector claim half a year is
not enough preparation time.

Six organizations, including the advertising self-regulatory body ÖRT and
the association of Hungarian publishers MLE wrote to President Ferenc Mádl
in a failed bid to persuade him not to sign the new bill.

The new Government legislation is intended to follow a recent EU directive
that requires a ban on all tobacco advertising by July 2001 among members,
but with a special extension until 2006 to major sporting events which
rely on tobacco sponsorship, which may or may not apply in Hungary.

Ágnes Sági, Secretary General of the Hungarian chapter of the
International Advertising Association, said, "One side says very simply
that tobacco advertising should be stopped because smoking is harmful to
our health.

"On the other side, the advertising industry claims there is no direct
link between advertising and the intensity of smoking. Germany is one of
the most liberally regulated countries yet the number of smokers is
decreasing.

"In Finland, where tobacco advertising has always been banned, the number
of smokers is higher than the EU average."

Sági continued, "In the European advertising industry the weight of
opinion is in favor of self-regulation and freedom of commercial speech."

Major players amongst the tobacco manufacturers based in Hungary
(British-American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris and Reemtsma) and the
smaller V-Tabac in Hódmezôvásárhely, all thought the law has been
introduced too suddenly.

Gábor Rácz, PR director of BAT, said, "A similar ban on tobacco
advertising has been in effect in Great Britain since January 1 this year,
but it was preceded by a three-year preparation and consultation period.
"Our British colleagues in Hungary were amazed because this is not what
they are used to in the EU."

BAT is the market leader in Hungary, with a 40% market share, producing
brands such as Sopianae, Pall Mall and Kent, in Pécs.

Philip Morris Magyarország Kft is second with a one-third market share,
producing such brands as Marlboro Multifilter, Helikon and Eve, in Eger.

Péter Dávid, external relations manager at Philip Morris Magyarország Kft,
said, "I am very disappointed by the law because the Hungarian Government
has decided to introduce it without prior consultation."

In 1988, more than 27 billion cigarettes were sold a year in Hungary, but
by 2000 the figure had fallen to 21.2 billion. Nevertheless, tobacco still
accounts for more than 1% of all advertising spending in Hungary, as
tobacco companies last year spent about Ft2.5 billion on ads.

Zsolt Jamniczky, PR manager of the Debrecen-based Reemtsma tobacco
company, said, "Parliament accepted this bill and we have to adjust
ourselves to it, but we are not happy. The timing is not very good."

Tamás Pál, Director of the Sociology Institute within the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences, said the introduction of the tobacco law was a good
sign that Hungary wanted to join the world’s more developed countries. But
he added all media consumers could end up filling the hole in advertising
revenue by paying higher prices for magazines, for example.