Governmental Control of Toxic Tobacco Constituents

action฀plan฀for฀tobacco฀control฀and฀also฀have฀no฀organised฀national฀body฀for฀the฀coordina- tion฀of฀such฀action฀plans฀ [50] . By฀2004฀the฀new฀standards฀will฀stipulate฀yields฀for฀tar฀and฀nicotine฀of฀10฀and฀1฀mg฀per฀ cigarette,฀ respectively.฀ By฀ 2003฀ all฀ EU฀ member฀ states฀ will฀ require฀ manufacturers฀ and฀ importers฀ to฀ submit฀ a฀ list฀ documenting฀ all฀ ingredients฀ and฀ their฀ quantities฀ used฀ in฀ the฀ manufacture฀of฀tobacco฀products,฀by฀brand฀name฀and฀type.฀The฀list฀of฀all฀ingredients฀will฀ be฀published. The฀proposal,฀discussed฀within฀the฀EU฀since฀1999,฀concerning฀the฀harmonisation฀of฀the฀ legal฀and฀administrative฀requirements฀relating฀to฀the฀manufacture,฀packaging฀and฀sale฀of฀ tobacco฀products฀19990244฀COD;฀KOM฀1999-594฀ [50] ฀envisages฀that,฀with฀effect฀from฀ 2003,฀the฀yields฀of฀tar฀and฀nicotine฀per฀cigarette฀will฀be฀lowered฀to฀10฀and฀1฀mg฀respec- tively,฀and฀that฀the฀CO฀content฀per฀cigarette฀will฀be฀10฀mg฀with฀effect฀from฀31฀December฀ 2003.฀It฀is฀also฀planned฀to฀include฀other฀constituents฀of฀cigarette฀tobacco฀in฀this฀control฀ system.฀The฀warnings฀printed฀on฀cigarette฀packs฀are฀also฀to฀be฀regulated.฀The฀manufactur- ers฀and฀importers฀of฀tobacco฀products฀will฀be฀required฀to฀list฀for฀their฀cigarette฀brands฀the฀ non-tobacco฀ingredients฀and฀constituents฀with฀quantitative฀details.฀The฀use฀of฀misleading฀ labels฀such฀as฀“light,”฀“mild”฀and฀“ultralight”฀will฀be฀prohibited.฀It฀is฀a฀recurring฀complaint฀ that฀inadequate฀information฀and฀the฀lack฀of฀toxicology฀data฀make฀it฀impossible฀for฀the฀ appropriate฀authorities฀in฀EU฀countries฀to฀arrive฀at฀a฀meaningful฀estimate฀of฀the฀health฀risks฀ of฀tobacco฀products฀for฀the฀consumer.฀The฀lack฀of฀such฀information฀prevents฀the฀bodies฀ responsible฀from฀ensuring฀a฀high฀level฀of฀health฀protection.฀It฀is฀to฀be฀hoped฀that฀this฀direc- tive฀will฀also฀be฀implemented฀in฀all฀EU฀countries฀in฀the฀near฀future.

14.6 Tobacco Taxes

There฀have฀been฀duties฀and฀taxes฀on฀tobacco฀consumption฀in฀some฀countries฀for฀over฀200฀ years฀cf.฀ Chap.฀1 .฀Today,฀the฀taxes฀on฀tobacco฀products฀are฀much฀higher฀than฀the฀actual฀ sales฀value฀of฀the฀products฀themselves.฀Price฀increases฀are฀one฀effective฀instrument฀for฀ reducing฀tobacco฀consumption,฀at฀least฀temporarily.฀As฀the฀data฀summarised฀in฀Fig.฀13.2฀ shows,฀the฀various฀tobacco฀taxes฀and฀duties฀levied฀in฀the฀EU฀are฀equivalent฀to฀about฀66฀ of฀the฀consumer฀prices฀ [51] .฀In฀the฀European฀Union,฀the฀aim฀is฀for฀a฀minimum฀tax฀rate฀of฀ about฀70฀of฀the฀retail฀end฀price฀ [52] .฀Germany฀is฀just฀below฀this฀level,฀lying฀in฀second- last฀place฀Fig.฀13.2.฀While฀the฀cigarette฀price฀in฀Germany,฀allowing฀for฀inlation,฀rose฀by฀ 4.1฀from฀1987฀to฀1993,฀it฀has฀risen฀in฀Great฀Britain฀by฀25฀since฀May฀1997.฀The฀exam- ple฀of฀the฀United฀Kingdom฀illustrates฀that฀as฀tobacco฀tax฀rises,฀revenue฀rises฀too฀over฀2–3฀ decades฀Fig.฀ 14.2 . There฀is฀an฀inverse฀relationship฀between฀the฀cigarette฀price฀and฀the฀level฀of฀consump- tion,฀with฀the฀latter฀falling฀as฀the฀former฀rises.฀On฀average,฀a฀10฀increase฀in฀price฀causes฀ cigarette฀consumption฀among฀adults฀to฀drop฀by฀3–7฀ [53] .฀Naturally,฀such฀price฀increases฀ have฀a฀far฀bigger฀effect฀on฀consumption฀among฀children฀and฀juveniles,฀allowing฀a฀2–3฀ times฀higher฀decrease฀in฀cigarette฀consumption฀to฀be฀reckoned฀with฀ [54] .฀A฀doubling฀of฀the฀ cigarette฀price฀would฀trigger฀a฀signiicant฀drop฀in฀cigarette฀consumption,฀provided฀tobacco฀ smuggling฀could฀be฀effectively฀stopped.฀A฀price฀increase฀on฀this฀scale฀would฀also฀result฀in฀ substantial฀health฀gains฀among฀the฀socially฀weaker฀groups฀ [55] .฀Initial฀experience฀with฀an฀ approach฀of฀this฀kind฀could฀be฀gained฀in฀Canada฀in฀the฀years฀from฀1982฀to฀1991:฀the฀sharp฀ rise฀in฀tobacco฀duty฀during฀this฀period฀resulted฀in฀a฀40฀decrease฀in฀tobacco฀consumption,฀ smuggling฀ included฀ [56] .฀ An฀ even฀ bigger฀ drop฀ was฀ observed฀ in฀ New฀ Zealand฀ [57] .฀ However,฀such฀measures฀only฀take฀effect฀after฀several฀years฀ [58] .฀In฀the฀case฀of฀juveniles,฀ such฀tax฀increases฀can฀be฀seen฀to฀produce฀a฀decreasing฀interest฀in฀cigarettes฀over฀an฀extended฀ period฀of฀time฀ [59,฀60] .฀Initial฀fears฀of฀loss฀of฀revenue฀by฀the฀state฀and฀an฀increase฀in฀smug- gling฀prove฀only฀limited,฀because฀the฀tax฀revenue฀per฀pack฀increases฀considerably฀ [61] .฀ However,฀these฀increased฀revenues฀should฀be฀devoted฀to฀tobacco-related฀health฀projects.฀ Small฀rises฀in฀tobacco฀duty฀of฀the฀kind฀that฀came฀into฀force฀in฀Germany฀at฀the฀start฀of฀the฀ year฀2002฀have฀only฀little฀effect.฀Moreover,฀the฀German฀inance฀minister฀justiied฀the฀tax฀ increase฀by฀stating฀that฀the฀revenue฀would฀be฀devoted฀to฀“improving฀internal฀security”฀ ฀–฀a฀highly฀immoral฀argument฀as฀it฀could฀make฀smokers฀think฀that฀by฀consuming฀heavily,฀ they฀are฀performing฀a฀public฀duty.

14.7 Regulations on Smoking

A฀primary฀goal฀of฀tobacco฀regulation฀is฀to฀reduce฀smoking-related฀diseases฀and฀the฀general฀ harm฀to฀society฀arising฀from฀smoking.฀This฀includes฀the฀earlier฀mortality฀of฀smokers,฀the฀ damage฀to฀the฀health฀of฀non-smokers,฀and฀ultimately฀also฀the฀costs฀to฀business฀and฀the฀ economy฀as฀a฀whole.฀Tobacco฀regulation฀therefore฀has฀three฀important฀objectives: • ฀ To฀stop฀people฀from฀starting฀smoking • ฀ To฀ help฀ people฀ to฀ stop฀ smoking฀ or฀ to฀ at฀ least฀ substantially฀ reduce฀ their฀ tobacco฀ consumption • ฀ To฀protect฀non-smokers฀from฀the฀risks฀of฀passive฀smoking฀ETS The฀ results฀ achieved฀ in฀ many฀ industrialised฀ countries,฀ including฀ Germany,฀ have฀ so฀ far฀ been฀unsatisfactory฀and฀inadequate฀ [62] . In฀ March฀ 2000,฀ the฀ International฀ Society฀ Against฀ Cancer฀ and฀ the฀ Association฀ of฀ European฀Leagues฀to฀Combat฀Cancer฀put฀forward฀a฀further฀proposal฀for฀an฀EU฀directive฀on฀ 1971 6000 6500 7000 Taxation revenue in millions of pound sterling 7500 8000 8500 9000 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 £ 1.40 Year Price Tax revenue Price in pound sterling £ 1.60 £ 1.80 £ 2.00 £ 2.20 £ 2.40 £ 2.60 £ 2.80 £ 3.00 Fig. 14.2 ฀฀฀Real฀price฀and฀ tobacco฀taxation฀revenue฀in฀ the฀United฀Kingdom฀from฀ 1971฀to฀1995฀ [96]