Clause 15 - Penalties
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill
11:00 am
Mr Nick Harvey (North Devon, Liberal Democrat)
My concern is the opposite of that of the hon. Member for Meriden. I took her point that this seemed to cover the span from the corner shop to the big tobacco company. I listened with interest her point about the penalties being excessive for the corner shop, but my concern is quite the opposite, that they are not much of a disincentive to the big players, when one considers the volume of business and the profits that can be made, despite the fact that advertising, although legal, costs a great deal of money.
Clause 16 defines offences by bodies corporate. I appreciate that the existence of a three-months' term of imprisonment for someone within the body corporate is a fair disincentive, but a fine of £5,000 would come out of the petty cash box and would not be much of a deterrent if it felt inclined to give it a go. A single advert might produce revenue that would dwarf that fine. The Minister said earlier that the tobacco industry had said that it intended to comply with the Bill—I believe that to be so, and I hope that it will prove to be so—but, when enacted, the legislation will continue for some time and one does not know whether in future a business might be inclined to try its luck.