§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the total tobacco consumption in the United Kingdom in(a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999. [132340]
§ Yvette CooperThe number of cigarettes released for home consumption in the United Kingdom were in(a) 1997 81.0 billion (b) 1998 75.3 billion, and (c) 1999 34.2 billion. It is not possible accurately to estimate overall cigarette consumption because of the effects of smuggling and forestalling.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if, before supporting the proposal for an EU Directive on the manufacture, production and sale of tobacco products he prepared a regulatory impact assessment on the proposal. [132339]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 24 July 2000]: Yes. This assessment was available to the Scrutiny Committees of both Houses of Parliament examining the Directive proposals.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health which members of staff of Action on Smoking and Health(a) have been and (b) are to be seconded to his Department; and to whom they will be responsible and report. [132342]
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§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 24 July 2000]: No member of the Action on Smoking and Health staff has been seconded to the Department and no decisions have been taken on any future arrangement.
§ Mr. HunterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he intends to continue to authorise the use of the product descriptions(a) low, (b) light, (c) ultra light, (d) mild and (e) other similar terms relating to tobacco products. [132341]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 24 July 2000]: As currently drafted, the Directive on Labelling, Manufacture and Sale of Tobacco Products would ban the use of such descriptions. The original European Commission proposal permitted member states to allow the terms to be used on tobacco products but the United Kingdom has argued strongly against any form of derogation.