[Intl-tobacco] UK: Ministers pave way for tobacco ads ban

[Robert Weissman]

Ministers pave way for tobacco ads ban
Deal on private member's bill means action is likely by this
summer
by James Meikle, health correspondent
Source: The Guardian, 2002-02-15

Tobacco advertising in the press, on billboards and on the internet
is likely to be banned this summer, following a government decision
to back a private bill launched by a Liberal Democrat peer.

Ministers will delight anti-smoking campaigners and promote their
public health credentials by finding time in the Commons for
legislation proposed by Lord Clement-Jones when it clears the Lords
next month.

New controls will also give the government greater controls over
point-of-sale advertising and put Britain in line with 16 other
European countries over direct tobacco promotion.

The rules will be similar to those orginally proposed by the
government but legislation was not completed because of last year's
election and ministers did not include a bill for their own
parliamentary programme.

Unofficial negotiations have been under way between Lord
Clement-Jones, who introduced a private bill in the Lords, and the
Department of Health.

He is expecting some amendments but said:"With the assistance of
colleagues on the government front benches we think we shall not
have to concede very much."

The government would not confirm its support last night, but the
bill is expected to complete its Lords stages on March 8.

It is understood that ministers will stick to giving motor racing
exemption from any tobacco sponsorship ban until 2006.

Labour faced one of its most embarrassing moments when it was
revealed that the formula one racing chief Bernie Ecclestone had
given a £1m donation before the 1997 election which it later
returned.

The tobacco industry spends an estimated £130m on advertising and
promotion in the UK, 10 times the amount spent by the government on
anti-smoking advertising.

News that ministers support Lord Clement-Jones's bill coincides with
World Health Organisation demands for a tougher international stance
against tobacco companies, following exposure of industry tactics by
whistleblowers and in secret documents.

The latest attempt to tighten the noose on manufacturers will be
made at a European conference for a tobacco-free Europe, to be held
in Warsaw next week.

The WHO is concerned that the number of smokers across Europe is
still growing because of aggressive marketing by companies, with
decreases in western countries being offset by rises in the former
communist bloc.

There has been little success in recent years in cutting smoking
rates in young people across the continent, including Britain, where
24% of boys aged 15 and 16 smoke, as do 28% of girls of the same
age.

Yvette Cooper, the health minister, who is to attend the conference,
said last night that smoking caused 120,000 deaths a year in the UK
and cost the NHS £1.7bn annually. "This is not an issue on which any
country can operate alone," she said.

"We work closely with our EU partners to strengthen community law on
tobacco regualtion and advertising and we will continue to work with
them, and , at an international level, with WHO, to tackle the
smoking epidemic at a global level."

The WHO says documents revealed by lawsuits and former employees
provide evidence from within the industry of "over 50 years of
manipulating science, politics and the mass media in pursuit of
profit".

Roberto Bertollini, director of technical support at WHO's regional
office for Europe, said significant progress had been made in
anti-smoking measures in many countries, thus putting the tobacco
industry on the defensive.

But he added: "On the other hand, the industry is stepping up its
efforts to reengineer itself, expand its markets, recruit new
smokers and promote the social acceptability of smoking."