Finland steps up tobacco controls and UK convenience association submits opposition to tobacco display ban

Finland plans to be the first country in the world to completely abolish smoking, starting with a ban on tobacco displays and smoking in cars with children.

Ilkka Oksala, Finland's state secretary in the health ministry, said the new laws were designed to "get rid of smoking once and for all".

The ministry has proposed the country's Tobacco Act is amended this year to prevent youth smoking.

The proposals include a tobacco display ban within a transition period of two years. Retailers will, however, be able to provide a list of tobacco products and prices to customers on request. The ban will not apply to specialist tobacco shops, whose products are not visible from outside and to which access by persons under 18 is forbidden.

It is also proposed to extend the tobacco bans to premises frequented by children and young people.

The government of Finland is also being urged to undertake policies to make Finland smoke-free by 2040. This would mean tobacco use is reduced by 10 % annually. Today, around 25% of adults uses tobacco products.

Meanwhile, the UK Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), has submitted a detailed response to the Government's consultation on the regulations governing the proposed ban on tobacco display in shops.

The regs are due to come into force on 1 October 2011 for large shops and 1 October 2013 for all other businesses.

The submission points out the weaknesses in the evidence that a ban would reduce youth smoking and calculates the costs of a ban under the current proposals. According to the ACS, this is far higher than ministers suggested in parliamentary debates during 2009.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: "Our evidence shows categorically that the costs of the ban for local shops have been severely underestimated.

"Throughout the passage of the bill through parliament, ministers have talked about a 'light touch' approach to these regulations, and have estimated the costs of the ban being between £210 and £850 per store.

"Our research, including detailed discussions with shop-fitters, shows the likely cost of installing flaps over existing gantries will be more than double the Government estimates, at around £1,840 per store."

The ACS argues the proposals would also cause significant problems for staff in their daily activities of serving customers and restocking. The slowing of service times in particular will harm customers and the costs of the ban would continue to grow over time, it says.

"Having contributed unreliable estimates of the costs of a ban to the Parliamentary debates on the issue, the Government now must address these costs. The current proposals are anything but 'light touch' and follow the example of some of the most expensive display ban regulations used in Canadian provinces. Despite our opposition to the ban on the grounds that there is no evidence that it would be effective, we are engaging to try to find less expensive solutions, and our submission is a responsible attempt to reduce costs for the convenience industry," said Lowman.

The ACS has also written to shadow ministers explaining the costs of the ban, and has called for a full review of the evidence surrounding the proposed ban in the event of a change of Government.

Lowman continued: "This debate is about effective tobacco control and meeting the principles of better regulation to support legitimate retail businesses. The display ban does neither of these things, and whoever forms the next Government must step back and take a fresh look at the evidence on all sides in order to meet these objectives."

ACS' submission is available in full at www.acs.org.uk

In addition to calculating likely costs from the ban, the submission looks at regulations relating to re-stocking, the maximum area of requested display, the variety of available options for retailer compliance, maintenance of gantries, increased service time and the threat of injuries to staff.