Tobacco: Packaging
Business, Innovation and Skills

Jackie Doyle-Price (Thurrock, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the potential effect of plain packaging of cigarettes on independent retailers.

Mark Prisk (Minister of State (Business and Enterprise), Business, Innovation and Skills; Hertford and Stortford, Conservative)

The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, and I have had some discussion on the potential effect of plain packaging of cigarettes on retailers generally with the Secretary of State for Health, Mr Lansley, in the context of deciding how we took forward the tobacco display legislation that we inherited from the last Government. However, we have not had any focused discussion on the matter since that time. The Department of Health has now published a consultation document (16 April 2012) seeking views on whether requiring cigarettes to be retailed in plain or 'standardised' packaging would add value over and above tobacco control measures already taken by the Government. The Government will be very interested to hear what retail business stakeholders tell us during this consultation so that proper account is taken of their views as the Government decides whether plain packaging for cigarettes is a policy measure to be developed further.