§ Mr. John Carlisleasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has now concluded the negotiations between himself and the tobacco industry on the sponsorship of sport and sporting events; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TraceyI am pleased to announce that the negotiations have been completed and the Government have reached a new voluntary agreement with the tobacco industry on sports sponsorship in the United Kingdom. The agreement came into effect today and will run until at least 31 October 1989.
The effect of the new agreement is that: overall expenditure on sponsorship activities will be reduced; the companies will not sponsor events designed to appeal mainly to spectators under 18 years old; media advertising will not depict any participants in a sport; the size of health warnings on signs at televised events will be increased by 50 per cent.; there will be tighter controls over the siting of signs at televised events; the agreement will be monitored by the Committee for Monitoring Agreements on Tobacco Advertising and Sponsorship, which is chaired by Sir Peter Lazarus.
These provisions have been incorporated into the detailed text of an agreement, copies of which are being placed in the Libraries of both Houses. The Government are grateful to the tobacco companies for the way in which they have pursued the negotiations and for accepting more specific controls over their sponsorship activities, particularly where the event concerned is to be televised.