Clause 6 - Specialist tobacconists
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Mr Andrew Hunter (Basingstoke, Conservative)
I add my words of welcome to you, Mr. Winterton, to those that have already been expressed. I shall not detain the Committee because my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne has rehearsed in some detail the arguments in favour of the amendments. I regard them as serious and I hope that the Minister does, too. It is clear from my hon. Friend's argument that the words ''sale price'' are insufficient because they lack clarity and definition.
I support what my hon. Friend said about the possible interruption of tobacco supplies. As a smoker, I have experienced it. In the past two or three years, it has not always been possible to obtain certain types of Zimbabwean tobacco. That illustrates the broad theme of my hon. Friend's argument. It is a matter of regret that the Government have pursued the sales threshold with which amendment No. 32 deals. An alternative route was suggested in an amendment tabled in the other place, which was to change the threshold from ''sale price'' to the number of brands of tobacco products stocked in a particular shop.
Interestingly, that is the measurement used in comparable Dutch legislation. The argument for it is that it is far simpler to operate a system based on the number of brands than on sales, which are variable. Will the Minister kindly explain why the Government did not follow the example set by Dutch legislation?