Tobacco Advertising (Hansard, 4 June 1991)

§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if priority will be given to the removal of tobacco advertising, not only from shops visible from schools and playgrounds, but also from shops close to schools and playgrounds.

§ Mr. Dorrell
The new voluntary agreement between the tobacco industry and the Government on tobacco advertising will require the industry to remove 50 per cent. of all permanent shopfront advertising over five years. The terms of the agreement will mean that the industry must give priority to removing signs clearly visible from schools. It is these signs which cause greatest concern to the Government.

§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the agreement with the tobacco industry announced recently to limit external permanent advertising on shops will apply to advertising stuck to the interior of shop windows facing outwards.

§ Mr. Dorrell
The agreement will cover permanent advertising material of this type, specifically window friezes and full window dressings.

§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the types of external permanent advertising material on shops to which his agreement with the tobacco industry will not apply.

§ Mr. Dorrell
No specific categories of external permanent advertising material on shops are excluded from the agreement.

§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what method will be used to measure the 50 per cent. reduction in permanent external tobacco advertising material on shop fronts.

§ Mr. Dorrell
Once the agreement has been concluded, the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship will engage independent consultants to monitor compliance with this aspect of the agreement. The methodology used by the consultants will be agreed between them and the committee. This matter will be covered in the committee's annual reports.

§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will commission an independent survey of the extent of tobacco advertising material on shops, comparable with those conducted for the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship by MAS Research Marketing and Consultancy Ltd. and reported in its first and second reports.

§ Mr. Dorrell
The precise nature of the independent consultancy work to be undertaken in monitoring compliance with the agreement is a matter for the committee for monitoring agreements on tobacco advertising and sponsorship.
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§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he consulted the medical profession before concluding his agreement with the tobacco industry on advertising.

§ Mr. Dorrell
We have not yet finally concluded the agreement. We are fully aware of the medical profession's views on this matter. The Department's own medical advisers took an active part in the negotiations.

§ Mr. Amos
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that there is no increase in shop-front tobacco advertising in the period before the new voluntary agreement with the tobacco industry comes into effect.

§ Mr. Dorrell
The reference date for the number of permanent shopfront signs advertising tobacco will be 1 July 1991. The industry has given firm assurances that it is not its intention to use the period before 1 July to make significant increases in the number of such signs.