Tobacco Documents Online

APFt' 01 ' 92' 15:43 I MFOTAB 686 P03/21 r"vpril 11, i992 H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bini IChalifa A1-Thani Heir Apparent P 0 Box 4000, Doha State of Qatar Your Highness, Suhiect: Law No. 11 of 1992 :"Conditions and' Specificatiorts Fteq,uired in Cig.arettes and their Packa es" We request Your Highness's permissioni to address you in connection with the requirement to print the month and' year of manufacture on every pack of cigarettes as stipulated in Law No. 1 of 1992. We would like to draw Your Highness's attention to the fact that requiring the month and year of manufacture on packs of cigarettes would result in no improvement in (1)) product quality, (2) consumer information, or (3) consumer protection. On the other hand; it wouU add a very unnecessary financial burden and loss onto the local distributors and small retailers. Althoughi classified as a foodstuff for adtninistratRve purposes, cigarettes are not manufactured or consumed'; as a foodl product. Timing is critical only between the harvesting of tobacco and its curing. After that, rather than being used as soon as possible, tobacco is generally stored and allowed to mature for between 2-3 years. Tobaccos are blended according to variety, crop year and country of origin, and the length of storage variies,, depending on the type of tobacco and crop charaeteristics, so that there is no fixed relationship betweeni the date of manufacture and the age of tlie tobacco going into cigarettes. This is not to, imply that once cigarettes have been manufactured, they can be kept indefinitely. They have a shelf life of over two,years, after which the paper packaging, rmay, become unappealing. They'rnay lose their taste and flavour. However, there are no specific health risks.attached to the age of tobacco, in cigarettes.

APR ' 01 ' 92' 15» 43 I MFOTRB 666 P04i21 The risks are of another kind- commerciaL Any smoker who faiLs to find the customary taste of his favourite cigarette, because he has been sold a pack which has lbst its appeal~ will most likely turn to a competitive -brand. It is for this reason that internationall manufacturers andl their distributors ensure that cigarette stocks in retail outlets rotate quickly enoughz Also, they will withdraw from sale,, packs which look unappeal'ing, whatever the age. Consumers do not gain any advantage from having the month and year of manufacture provided on cigarette packs. A date of rnanufacture requirement can only mislead thernm into thinking that the more recent the date, the more recent the tobacco content and/or the better the cigarettes. This simply does not hold true. It often happens that cigare:tte packs bearing a more recent date of manufacture contain, tobacco which is older than that present in packs manufactured at an earlier date. While the requirement to print the date of manufacture on cigarette packs does not benefit the consumer, it will' bring considerable commercial lbsse.s to small retailers. Under sucii a requirement, as soon as packs with, the latest date of rnanufacture begin to be displayed ini other outlets or on his own premises, the small retailer is facedwith the proble of'selling perfectly suitable cigarettes which bear an older date-code. In view of the above, the requirement to print the date of manufacture on cigarette packs has neither been required nor considered anywhere in the world other than in the GCC.. We therefore kindly request Your H2ghness's support, in seeking an amendment of Law No. 1 of' 1992 to delete the requirement to, show the month and year off produ+ction on every cigarette pack. We hope thaty,ou: will favourably consider our request and await Your Highness's instructions. Respectfully, ALI BIN ALI & CO ALI BIN AII,I & PARTNERS P 0 Box 75 P 0 Box 1'993' Doha Doha

APR 01 '92'15:A4 INFOTRB 686 P05i21 AL YOUSUF ' TRADING MODERN' HOME. P O Box 330, P' O Box 615 Doha Doha MERCH TRADING EST A M ALSOWA1D1 & SONS P 0 Box 5511 P' 0 Box 72 Doha Doha SULAIMAN AIrHAJ)' HAIDER & SONS POBhx10 Dohal ~