§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what arrangements 296W have been made to strengthen the code of advertising practice in regard to cigarettes and to bring the advertising of tobacco substitute material under control.
§ Mr. EnnalsAmendments to the code have now been agreed between the tobacco companies the Advertising Standards Authority and my Department on behalf of the United Kingdom Health Departments. These amendments are designed to meet the criticisms which Ministers have publicly made in the past about some aspects of the existing code. The revised code now includes new rules governing advertisements associated with active sport or with femininity. A number of existing rules have been revised and strengthened. It has also been agreed that the code should be extended to cover all advertisements for cigarette components, including tobacco substitute material. A copy of the revised code has been placed in the Library.
The revision of the code completes one of the measures which I announced in reply to my hon. Friend's Question on 8th March—[Vol. 927, c. 463–5]—and the new code will operate for the same three-year period as the other measures.