§ Mr. Terry LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he intends to introduce to prevent the use of oral tobacco products from overseas sources. [152455]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 6 March 2001]: So long as oral tobacco from overseas sources does not fall within a banned category, complies with United Kingdom Customs and Excise duty regulations and carries health warnings, its use in the UK is not illegal.
However, we want to ensure that people have information about health risks. We are, therefore, seeking to develop greater awareness of the health risks associated with oral tobacco as part of our tobacco information strategy. We are working on a dedicated campaign, focused on high risk ethnic minority populations, to address the health risks of smoking and the use of oral tobacco in order to decrease demand for these products. We are also training trading standards officers in this area.