Health and Sport Committee
Meeting date: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Official Report
254KB pdf
European Commission Work Programme
Item 2 is consideration of the European Commission work programme for 2012. There are five proposals from the Commission on health, details of which are set out in the paper from the clerks and the Scottish Parliament information centre. I ask Richard Lyle, who is our European Union reporter, to begin the discussion on the paper.
An important issue that will come up is the revision of the directive on the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products. I have brought with me an example of the proposed new cigarette packaging.
I confess that I am a smoker, as you know. However, I support the proposals. Tobacco manufacturers have long recognised the power of branding. Branding is particularly important in a product such as cigarettes, because consumers typically struggle to identify differences between brands in blind tests. An Imperial Tobacco employee said:
“So the discrimination in product terms, pure blind product terms, without any packaging or name around it is very limited. You can tell if it’s very mild or very strong, and you might get some case characteristics that are different. But it’s very difficult for people to discriminate, blind tested. Put it in a package and put a name on it, and then it has a lot of product characteristics.”
I think that making tobacco products less appealing is an aim of everyone. Plain packaging is perceived less favourably by adult smokers and young people. A recent study, which piloted plain packets with young adult smokers in Glasgow—I am sure that Bob Doris will appreciate this—found that the use of plain packets was associated with increased negative perceptions and feelings about smoking.
Members can see from the example packet that I have brought along that the message is:
“Protect children: don’t make them breathe your smoke.”
On the side of the packet there is a health warning, which says:
“Warning: the toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke damage your blood vessels”
and goes on to emphasise other problems that smoking causes. The brand name will be much, much smaller and will appear only on certain parts of the packaging.
The proposal is going through the EU and I suggest to the committee that we should support it.
Thank you. I understand that there will be a debate on EU priorities in February or March. We do not need to make a decision other than to monitor the situation. We could write to the Scottish Government to ask for an update on how it is engaging in the programme. Do members agree to do that?
Members indicated agreement.
Do members have comments on the rest of the paper? We have talked about the revision of the tobacco products directive. There are also proposals on the promotion of innovation in medical devices, as part of the package of innovation in health. I do not know whether “medical devices” covers the implants and replacements issue.
Convener, we can ask for information about the detail of the proposal from our colleagues in SPICe and through the European and External Relations Committee, if the committee would like further information.
Is that okay with the committee?
Members indicated agreement.
Thank you. Do members have comments on the proposed communication on the European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing?
Given the problems of an ageing population that we all anticipate, it would be good to hear more about the issue.
I can certainly bring something back, convener.
Thank you. If there are no more comments on the work programme, I thank Richard Lyle. We move into private for item 3, as agreed.
10:07 Meeting continued in private until 12:25.