Memorandum by British American Tobacco
(SP 45)
Please find enclosed a copy of the submission
made by British American Tobacco (BAT) to the Department of Health's
consultation on the smokefree elements of the Health Improvement
and Protection Bill[2].
I hope that the Health Committee will consider it as a piece of
evidence for their own enquiry on this important subject.
In summary, BAT believes that the Government's
balanced approach to this issue provides for choice and is aligned
with public opinion. We are, therefore supportive of "Option
4", but believe that it could be reinforced by ensuring that
non-food pubs which choose to have smoking and non-smoking sections
use ventilation to an Air Quality Standard defined by Government
on the basis of expert advice. This would help separate non-smokers
from smokers and also create an environment in which staff in
non-food pubs would have a reduction in their exposure to second-hand
smoke.
BAT's international spread of business helps
us to follow this issue across much of the world. We believe that
we can demonstrate to the Committee that properly ventilated,
designated smoking areas or rooms can be effective in addressing
the issue. We would welcome the opportunity to do so by inviting
the Committee to visit our London office where, from October,
we will be showcasing the ventilation and filtration systems available
from a number of leading international companies. We hope the
Committee might consider it interesting and useful to view these
systems and to talk to their manufacturers. We would also extend
an invitation to the Committee to visit our research and development
facilities to view the work we undertake ourselves, as outlined
in our submission.
2 Not printed. Back
| 
