HL Deb 04 February 1974 vol 349 cc554-6

2.42 p.m.

LORD SUDELEY

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government for what reason Turkish cigarettes have not been included in the table issued by the Department of Health and Social Security giving tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes.

LORD SANDYS

My Lords, the brands of cigarettes which have been tested for tar and nicotine yields by the Government chemist and for which the results were published by the Department of Health and Social Security in April, 1973, are those brands which had sales in the United Kingdom of 10 million cigarettes or more a year. Before tests began in 1972 cigarette manufacturers and importers, including manufacturers or importers of Turkish cigarettes, were asked to name such brands but no brand of Turkish cigarettes was put forward. The list of brands for inclusion in the testing arrangements is kept under continual review and when other brands reach the required level of sales these are added to the list for the next testing period.

LORD SUDELEY

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. Is he aware that the tar and nicotine content of Turkish cigarettes is less than that of Virginian and that there is an unsatisfied demand for Turkish cigarettes?

LORD SANDYS

My Lords, I would remind my noble friend that manufacturers and importers have been informed that manufacturers of a brand which sells under 10 million cigarettes per year—and of course this is so in the case of Turkish cigarettes—can request that it be included in the list to be published. Such a brand would be accepted if the workload on the Government chemist permitted.

LORD SUDELEY

My Lords, will the noble Lord consider promoting the advertising of Turkish cigarettes in order to stimulate their sales as compared with those containing Virginian tobacco?

LORD SANDYS

My Lords, that is right outside the purview of Government affairs, and it is also outside the original Question.

LORD PLATT

My Lords, may I ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any firm evidence about the incidence of diseases, such as lung cancer, in smokers of Turkish and similar rather rich and aromatic cigarettes which are not much smoked in this country?

LORD SANDYS

My Lords, I approach this matter with some caution, because in the Report of the Royal College of Physicians Smoking and Health Now, of which I think the noble Lord was the chairman or one of the principal officers, there was no specific mention of Turkish cigarettes as such, and I think the Report discreetly referred to "no specific brands." Therefore I cannot answer the noble Lord on that point.

LORD PLATT

My Lords, may I say that that is precisely why I asked the question—because I know there was nothing in the Report. Just to get the Record straight, it was with the First Report of the Royal College of Physicians that I was associated.

BARONESS SUMMERSKILL

My Lords, in view of the well-known interest in this matter in this House and in another place, can the noble Lord ask somebody in his Department to communicate with his opposite number in Turkey and ask what are the conditions there—

SEVERAL NOBLE LORDS

Oh!

BARONESS SUMMERSKILL

This is not a laughing matter—and what is the incidence of carcinoma of the lung there?

LORD SANDYS

My Lords, I think there are figures available from the World Health Organisation of the incidence of lung cancer in various parts of the world. If we have such information from the World Health Organisation, I will communicate with the noble Baroness if she so wishes.

BARONESS SUMMERSKILL

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord very much. I shall be delighted if he will do so.

LORD REIGATE

My Lords, will my noble friend bear in mind, before he communicates with anybody there, that Turkish tobacco is grown not only in Turkey? Will he also bear in mind that most American cigarettes contain a higher proportion of Turkish tobacco than cigarettes here, and that that might be a useful point of research? Above all, will he use all his efforts to stop people from smoking altogether?

BARONESS LLEWELYN-DAVIES OF HASTOE

My Lords, if this is the first time that the noble Lord has answered Questions from the Dispatch Box, may we congratulate him on the masterly way in which he has done so?

LORD SEGAL

My Lords, can the noble Lord say when the next list of nicotine content of various brands of cigarettes is due to be issued?

LORD SANDYS

Yes, my Lords. It is due to be issued later this week, and there will be a Written Answer on this subject to-morrow afternoon in another place.