Tobacco vendor licensing plugs the loopholes in implementing lifesaving health laws
SHOBHA SHUKLA CNS
Before the Intergovernmental Global Tobacco Treaty meet opens next month, experts call for tobacco vendor licensing so that governments can enforce lifesaving tobacco control policies, protect children and youth from misleading tobacco industry tactics and lies, and progress towards ending tobacco use. No one must suffer from tobacco-related diseases or die of them, rightly said Dr Tara Singh Bam, noted global health expert and Asia Pacific Director of Vital Strategies.
Tobacco-vendor licensing reduces tobacco product availability and accessibility, particularly to vulnerable youth. A key tobacco control measure, tobacco vendor licensing can limit tobacco retailer density around schools, parks, and hospitals; this is critically important because vendor abundance normalises tobacco use, increases exposure to tobacco advertisements, and thwarts quit efforts. Tobacco vendor licensing can also restrict the types of products sold alongside tobacco and ensures inspectors know where products are sold, allowing for more effective enforcement of all point-of-sale tobacco laws, said Dr Tara Singh Bam, who also serves as Board Director of Asia Pacific Cities Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT).
With no licensing for tobacco retail, tobacco industries get a freewheeling chance to violate lifesaving health policies and keep profiteering while tobacco users suffer the assault of deadly tobacco-related diseases and die prematurely.
With strict licensing for tobacco retail, governments get a legal mechanism to enforce tobacco-control policies and ensure compliance by retailers to all laws; for example, penalise those retailers who violate the sale of tobacco to minors law, or sell illegal tobacco products (such as e-cigarettes or vapes which are banned in several countries globally), or violate the ban on point-of-sale tobacco advertising, promotion, and/or sponsorship.
Almost 3 Decades of Enforcing Tobacco Retail Laws in Singapore
Singapore had first established its tobacco-control law in 1993. Soon after, tobacco retail laws came into force in 1998. Singapore also passed laws in 2003 to license importers and wholesalers of tobacco products, and license fees (and annual renewal) is hefty at over US$ 2000, said Sabita Karapan, Programme Technical Officer (Tobacco Control) for the Asia Pacific region at Vital Strategies and long-standing tobacco control and public health advocate. Fines for violation of tobacco control laws in Singapore are heftier.
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