This is the content of my letter that I sent last week to the civil servants asking for feedback on their ideas for tobacco packaging changes in the UK.
9 August 2012
Retaining the status quo on tobacco packaging is the best option for
effective long term tobacco control in the UK
Dear Sirs
My company specialises in
energising independent retailers in the news and convenience market in the UK.
These local businesses rely
heavily on tobacco to generate footfall and for cash flow and profit purposes.
They generally comply with tobacco legislation and make very low profits out of
handling tobacco products responsibly.
Most retailers share your
desire to improve public health and they comply with regulation on the sale of
tobacco. This is time consuming but there is widespread consumer desire to buy
tobacco products and most local retailers want to meet this demand rather than
send shoppers elsewhere.
Small shopkeepers have lots
of rules and regulations to follow as they sell a very wide range of products
and services. They need less red tape, not more.
Introducing standardised
packaging would put the responsible legal supply chain at risk. The worse you
make tobacco look in store, the more attractive you will make illegal supply
alternatives.
The UK’s many measures to
discourage young people from taking up smoking, to encourage people to give up
smoking and to reduce people’s exposure to smoke from tobacco products are underpinned by the responsible
retailing of tobacco by independent shopkeepers.
The more that you
denormalise sales through the legitimate retail channel, the more attractive
you make the illegal trade. There is also a serious risk that more entry-level
retailers will be encouraged to break the rules in order to survive against
intense competition.
Independent shopkeepers already
have difficult jobs to do. They have put their own and their families capital
at risk and are open to widespread competition. Their efforts support the
successful tobacco control policies that you have introduced. Weakening this
channel will weaken future tobacco control.
Please keep the status quo.
If you would like any more detailed information, please get in touch.
Yours sincerely
Nick Shanagher
Managing Director
About my interest in this consultation:
Tobacco companies are important customers of my company
and account for around 12.5 per cent of our turnover. This is lower than the
percentage of turnover accounted for by tobacco sales in independent shops.
Tobacco companies spend money in our trade media to
encourage retailers to stock their brands, to trade responsibly and to comply
with tobacco regulations.
My company is owned by the retail membership of the
National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) through a Benefits Fund. We
operate commercially and editorially separately to the NFRN – but we share a
mission to promote the interests of independent retailers.
Retail Express, our trade newspaper, is delivered to more
than 49,000 retailers in the UK every fortnight. Retail Newsagent, our trade
magazine, is bought by 13,000 retailers every week. We run events that bring
suppliers and retailers together, including the Independent Achievers Academy.
We have a web site, betterretailing.com, which is targeted at independent
retailers.
From this activity we are in constant contact with
independent retailers. Broadly the market segments into three: with expert
retailers, emerging retailers and entry-level retailers. We work with suppliers
to help retailers rise through the levels, encouraging and advising them to
follow best practise so that they can compete with the supermarket multiples.
We encourage them to retail responsibly and to comply with all regulations.
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