“Subsidised” Tobacco Growing ebooksclub.org Tobacco or Health Physiological and Social Damages Caused by Tobacco Smoking Second Edition

On฀the฀other฀hand,฀the฀value฀of฀the฀harvested฀tobacco฀only฀amounts฀to฀about฀20฀of฀the฀ subsidies฀paid฀for฀it฀ [45] ฀–฀a฀state฀of฀affairs฀which฀cannot฀be฀tolerated฀indeinitely. If฀these฀jobs฀were฀“destroyed”฀through฀abolition฀of฀the฀subsidies,฀the฀result฀would฀be฀ high฀social฀costs.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀however,฀the฀EU฀tobacco฀is฀either฀exported฀as฀“infe- rior”฀quality฀or฀is฀only฀used฀to฀make฀up฀bulk.฀The฀EU฀and฀especially฀Germany฀imports฀ 80฀of฀the฀tobacco฀it฀needs฀for฀production.฀In฀other฀words,฀a฀product฀is฀having฀to฀be฀sub- sidised฀which฀cannot฀even฀be฀subsequently฀used฀properly.฀The฀only฀solution฀to฀this฀prob- lem฀would฀be • ฀ For฀the฀employees฀to฀be฀gradually฀moved฀to฀other฀jobs • ฀ To฀pay฀compensation฀to฀the฀tobacco฀growers฀for฀them฀to฀give฀up฀cultivation฀and฀so฀ reduce฀the฀amount฀of฀land฀under฀production฀purchase฀of฀quotas;฀see฀also฀EEC฀Directive฀ No.฀2,07992 • ฀ To฀intensify฀controls฀on฀the฀amount฀of฀land฀under฀cultivation฀so฀as฀to฀ensure฀compliance฀ with฀EC฀laws The฀goal฀of฀achieving฀quality฀improvements฀in฀the฀tobacco฀grown฀“non-harmful”฀tobacco฀ qualities฀is฀likely฀to฀be฀a฀long฀way฀in฀the฀future฀ [45] .฀At฀best,฀tobacco฀plants฀should฀be฀used฀ to฀extract฀the฀nicotine฀for฀medicinal฀purposes.฀As฀other฀branches฀of฀industry฀in฀the฀EU฀have฀ also฀had฀to฀be฀restructured,฀it฀should฀be฀possible฀for฀the฀politicians฀to฀develop฀practicable฀ concepts฀in฀this฀ield.฀The฀WHO฀has,฀however,฀stated,฀that฀the฀claimed฀effects฀on฀employ- ment฀are฀exaggerated฀and฀that฀it฀is฀prepared฀to฀initiate฀aid฀measures฀for฀tobacco฀growers฀in฀ poor฀countries;฀in฀other฀words,฀there฀should฀be฀no฀obstacles฀to฀restructuring฀ [46] . Paradoxically,฀world฀food฀aid฀programmes฀are฀supporting฀tobacco฀growing฀in฀various฀ countries฀with฀inancial฀donations,฀e.g.฀Ghana.฀The฀arguments฀used฀to฀justify฀this฀run฀more฀ 500 Tobacco Sweet potatoes Peanuts Cotton Corn Soybeans Hay Wheat 136 190 228 306 478 760 1,627 1,000 1,500 US- per acre [thousands] 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 4,191 Fig. 14.1 ฀฀฀Agricultural฀value฀of฀selected฀crop฀products฀for฀the฀year฀1995฀ [12] .฀Tobacco฀ranked฀ seventh฀in฀terms฀of฀frequency฀throughout฀the฀USA,฀behind฀the฀crops฀shown฀above.฀Tobacco฀ earned฀income฀of฀US฀2.3฀billion฀in฀the฀USA฀ [12] or฀less฀as฀follows:฀“Tobacco฀is฀a฀traditional฀source฀of฀enjoyment฀and฀brings฀a฀little฀luxury฀ and฀pleasure฀into฀life.”฀In฀order฀to฀be฀able฀to฀grow฀tobacco฀in฀these฀countries,฀it฀is฀neces- sary฀to฀clear฀woodland.฀Moreover,฀because฀of฀the฀poor฀quality฀of฀the฀soil฀and฀the฀shortage฀ of฀fertiliser,฀the฀land฀obtained฀in฀this฀way฀can฀only฀be฀used฀for฀a฀few฀years฀and฀then฀has฀to฀ be฀replaced฀by฀new฀land฀ [47] .฀According฀to฀UNO฀calculations,฀one฀tree฀has฀to฀be฀felled฀for฀ every฀300฀cigarettes฀produced. The฀British฀government฀has฀rejected฀a฀report฀by฀the฀Commission,฀which฀was฀co-฀initiated฀ by฀the฀tobacco฀industry,฀to฀the฀Council฀on฀the฀joint฀marketing฀organisation฀for฀raw฀tobacco฀ [48] ฀and฀spoken฀out฀against฀further฀subsidies฀for฀tobacco฀growing.฀Its฀proposals฀were,฀ however,฀not฀accepted฀ [48] . An฀altogether฀indefensible฀attitude฀towards฀tobacco฀growing฀is฀that฀of฀the฀Swiss฀gov- ernment:฀the฀federal฀government฀charges฀a฀kind฀of฀special฀tobacco฀duty฀of฀2.6฀rappen฀per฀ packet฀of฀cigarettes.฀The฀SFr฀20฀million฀of฀revenue฀this฀generates฀is฀not฀put฀into฀smoking฀ prevention,฀however,฀but฀is฀paid฀in฀subsidies฀towards฀tobacco฀cultivation฀ [49]

14.5 Governmental Control of Toxic Tobacco Constituents

In฀most฀countries฀in฀Europe฀38฀countries,฀national฀regulations฀specify฀maximum฀yields฀for฀ tar฀and฀nicotine฀in฀tobacco฀products.฀In฀12฀countries฀regulations฀for฀additives฀exist,฀while฀the฀ content฀of฀CO฀is฀regulated฀in฀only฀six฀countries.฀The฀limits฀for฀tar฀and฀nicotine฀are฀12฀and฀ 1.2฀mg฀per฀cigarette,฀respectively฀ [50] .฀A฀2001฀EU฀directive฀will฀reinforce฀the฀regulation฀of฀ the฀constituents฀and฀ingredients฀of฀tobacco฀products฀and฀tobacco฀smoke฀for฀details,฀see฀ Chap.฀3.4 ,฀Tables฀3.1–3.3.฀The฀data฀summarised฀in฀Table฀ 14.2 ฀indicate฀that฀there฀are฀still฀a฀ few฀EU฀countries฀that฀are฀lagging฀behind฀because฀they฀have฀not฀yet฀produced฀any฀national฀ Country National฀tobacco฀ control฀action฀plan Speciic฀targets฀on฀ tobacco฀in฀action฀plan National฀coordinating฀ body฀for฀tobacco฀control Austria No No No Belgium No No No Denmark Yes Yes Yes Finland Yes Yes Yes France Yes Yes Yes Germany No No No Greece No No Yes Ireland Yes Yes Yes Italy Yes Yes No Netherlands Yes Yes Yes Portugal Yes Yes Yes Spain Yes Yes Yes Sweden Yes Yes Yes United฀Kingdom Yes Yes Yes Table 14.2 ฀National฀action฀plans฀and฀coordinating฀bodies฀in฀selected฀European฀countries฀ [50] 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฀