Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which scientific research they used to inform their decision on whether to maintain the ban on snus.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Oral tobacco products such as snus were banned in the United Kingdom under The Tobacco for Oral Use (Safety) Regulations 1992, which implemented European Union Directive 92/41. This ban has been confirmed in subsequent regulations, most recently by the EU Tobacco Products Directive 14/40, which has been transposed into UK law in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulation 2016 (TRPR). The European Commission set out the evidence underpinning the ban in the Tobacco Products Directive’s impact assessment and in previous Directives. A copy of the impact assessment is attached.
The Department is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the TRPR and this includes a public consultation that closes on the 19 March 2021. The Department will review the evidence submitted to consider if the regulations have met their objectives or if any future regulatory changes should be considered.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to request that the Committee on Toxicity undertakes a toxicological evaluation of (1) snus, (2) non-tobacco oral nicotine pouches, and (3) smokeless tobacco products used primarily by South Asian communities in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department is considering whether the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) should undertake an evaluation of non-tobacco oral nicotine pouches in its work programme in the next financial year. Oral tobacco products are banned under Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016 and consequently there are no current plans to ask COT to evaluate such products. COT will not consider smokeless tobacco products because their dangers and harms are well documented in the existing evidence base.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Health Organization's decision to welcome the government of India's decision to ban e-cigarettes; and what plans they have to implement a similar ban in the UK.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The World Health Organization recommends countries either ban or regulate e-cigarettes. The Government has no current plans to ban e-cigarettes in the United Kingdom and they continue to be regulated under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. It remains the goal of the Government to maximise the public health opportunities presented by e-cigarettes to reduce smoking, while managing any risks. UK regulated e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, but they are not risk free. Research shows e-cigarettes are effective in helping some smokers to quit. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review on e-cigarettes will be published this month.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage they pay of the costs of the World Health Organization's secretariat for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Answered by Lord Bethell
For the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Secretariat work programme for January 2020 to December 2021, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland pays 5.9240% of the assessed contribution as a member of the Convention. This amounts to $521,340. The UK ratified the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, in June 2018, and, as a Member, pays 14.9691% of the assessed contribution. This amounts to $748,411 for January 2020 to December 2021. The WHO FCTC publishes details of assessed contributions online on its website.
In addition, the UK Government contributes funds to the FCTC 2030 project, through official development assistance funding, which is hosted in the WHO FCTC Secretariat. £15 million has been committed to the five-year project to support low and middle income countries improve their tobacco control. The project concludes at the end of March 2021.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what lessons they have learnt from Norway's success in reducing its smoking rate among young women from 30 per cent to 1 per cent in the last 16 years.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government published its Tobacco Control Plan (TCP), Towards a Smokefree Generation: A Tobacco Control Plan for England, in July of 2017. In developing policy proposals for the plan it reviewed evidence on how other leading tobacco control countries have implemented policies to reduce tobacco use.
Smoking rates for women in England are currently at 13.7%, the lowest they have ever been. As outlined in the TCP there is a commitment to reduce smoking among adults from 15.5% to 12% or less by 2022. A copy of the TCP is attached.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish (1) the assessments, and (2) the correspondence, held by Public Health England regarding the toxicology of the smoking substitute snus, including any communication with government scientists.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
There are no current plans to publish any assessments or correspondence on the toxicology of snus.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made towards introducing a standard for chewed tobacco products used by the UK South Asian community since being proposed in the 2006 study cited in the publication Tobacco Control, <i>Levels of toxins in oral tobacco products in the UK</i>.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government has not yet developed standards for these tobacco products, however, even with reduced levels of toxins they would not be completely safe. The focus of the Government’s tobacco control efforts has therefore been on preventing initiation of tobacco use and supporting existing users of tobacco products to quit.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what scientific research forms the basis of the legality of the chewed oral tobacco products which are predominantly used by the British South Asian community.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
A range of evidence has been considered showing that there is no safe way to consume tobacco.
The ban on snus was introduced by the European Union in 1992 and is currently subject to litigation. As long as the United Kingdom is subject to EU law, current arrangements remain in place. The Government is committed to reviewing the existing legislation by 2020.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what scientific research forms the basis of the ban on snus as a smoking substitute.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
A range of evidence has been considered showing that there is no safe way to consume tobacco.
The ban on snus was introduced by the European Union in 1992 and is currently subject to litigation. As long as the United Kingdom is subject to EU law, current arrangements remain in place. The Government is committed to reviewing the existing legislation by 2020.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to include scientific evidence about the potential of snus as a smoking substitute in their Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Statistics on daily smoking are not routinely gathered. In 2015, the Office of National Statistics Annual Population Survey 2015 showed that 17.6% of 18-19 year old men, 24% of 20-24 year old men, and 27% of 25-29 year old men were current smokers. No data is collected on snus use.
The Tobacco Control plan will provide a framework and call to action for wide ranging future work to further reduce the prevalence of tobacco use.