New Clause 10
Health Bill [Lords]
3:15 pm
Sandra Gidley (Romsey, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The new clause has effectively been referred to as a plain packaging amendment; there were attempts at this in the other place. The clause provides the Secretary of State with powers to make regulations to restrict the use of branding, including the shape and colour of tobacco products and their packaging.
We have introduced this new clause because we have a slight problem with the Government proposals that were discussed on Tuesday afternoon, which sought to remove all tobacco products from display. We are talking about an adult product that should be sold only to adults. The evidence base for the effect on children is limited, which is a shame because the Bill has been touted as introducing measures to reduce smoking by children. There is a need to curtail further the impact of cigarettes; this new clause seeks to do that.
The pack would retain the brand name of the product, which would be displayed in a standard font, the volume of the product, for example 20 cigarettes, and features required by statute, including health warnings, tar and nicotine yields and the duty stamp. Committee members have been provided with examples of plain packs. Tobacco manufacturers have suggested that these would be easy to forge, but it seems to me, having seen forged packs, that existing packs are also easy to forge. The problem of smuggling needs to be resolved in a completely different way; there are ways that that can be achieved.