Tobacco Advertising (Hansard, 24 March 1986)

§ Mr. Fowler

The Government have reached a new voluntary agreement with the tobacco industry to govern the advertising and promotion of tobacco products and health warnings. The agreement will come into effect on 1 April and run until 31 October 1989.

The main new provisions are:

First, advertising of cigarettes in cinemas will cease.

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Second, in place of the present health warning, there will be six new messages that will be given roughly equal exposure on packs, posters and press advertisement. The wording of the warnings will be:

—Smoking Can Cause Fatal Diseases
—Smoking Can Cause Heart Disease
—Smoking When Pregnant Can Injure Your Baby and Cause Premature Birth
—Stopping Smoking Reduces the Risk of Serious Diseases
—Smoking Can Cause Lung Cancer, Bronchitis and Other Chest Diseases
—More Than 30,000 People Die Each Year in the UK From Lung Cancer.

The new warnings will be ascribed to the Health Departments' Chief Medical Officers.

Third, the space provided for the health warning and tar ratings on posters and press advertisements will be increased from 15 to 17½ per cent. of the available area.

Fourth, the industry will spend £1 million each year for the duration of the agreement on a campaign with the retail trade, supported by media advertising and direct mail, against illegal sale of cigarettes to children under the age of 16.

Fifth, expenditure on poster advertising will be frozen in real terms at 50 per cent. of that in year ending 31 March 1980.

Sixth, new rules will prevent cigarette posters being positioned close to schools.

Seventh, there will be no cigarette brand advertising on logos or "give-aways" to children at events sponsored by tobacco companies, such as roadshows and airshows.

Eighth, no cigarettes yielding 18 mg of tar or more will be advertised.

Ninth, no cigarette advertisements will appear in free-standing magazines with a female readership of over 200,000, where a third or more of those readers are aged between 15 and 24 years.

Tenth, the agreement is to be monitored by a new Government/tobacco industry committee under an independent chairman. The chairman will report annually on the progress of the agreement.

These provisions have been incorporated into the detailed text of an agreement, copies of which are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses and are available to the public. Discussions with the industry about the agreement on sports sponsorship by tobacco companies are in progress, led by my hon. Friend the Minister for Sport. The outcome of those discussions will be announced separately in due course.

This agreement is a considerable advance on the previous one. Not only are the public in general provided with clearer messages about the specific dangers to health from smoking, but steps are to be taken to protect particularly vulnerable groups in the population such as children and young people, especially young women in the early child-bearing years.

We attach great importance to the new health warnings. Research had shown that the old warning— Smoking can Seriously Damage Your Health"— had become too familiar and as a result lost much of its original impact. By replacing it with six tougher messages which include specific reference to the main diseases linked with smoking, such as lung cancer and heart disease, I believe that we shall have done much to see that the unique dangers of smoking remain in the public eye. The health warnings will be given roughly equal exposure 372W over the course of the agreement. They should achieve considerably increased prominence, since the amount of space devoted to the health warning on posters and press advertisements is to be increased from 15 to 17½ per cent. of the available area.

The Government are deeply concerned about the number of young people who continue to be drawn to smoking. I am pleased, therefore, that the agreement contains several new provisions intended to protect the young. In particular all cigarette brand advertising on items intended to be given away or sold to children at events sponsored by tobacco companies like roadshows will cease. New rules have also been drawn up to prevent cigarette advertising near schools and other placers of education used by young people. In addition, I greatly welcome the campaign suggested by the industry, and to be organised and financed by it, to encourage tobacco retailers to support the law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to children. The industry will spend £1 million a year over the course of the agreement on the campaign, which represents a very considerable effort. It will use advertising in the national media and trade press, as well as direct mailing of material for display in shops. The campaign will be far more comprehensive in its coverage of shops selling cigarettes than any previous campaign of this type.

Finally, for the first time we are setting up a mechanism to monitor the new agreement. The committee, which will represent the Departments concerned and the industry, will be under an independent chairman. The committee's task will be to ensure that the terms of the voluntary agreement are properly adhered to, to receive details of complaints about compliance, and to undertake surveys from time to time on the industry's observance of particular aspects of the agreement. The chairman will be required to report annually on the work of the committee. The establishment of this new monitoring machinery should go a long way towards ensuring public confidence in the system of controlling tobacco advertising and promotion by means of voluntary agreements.