Tobacco Documents Online

03/12 0601 INlERVlEW-Gai~laher plays down passive smoking risk Copyrl, g,ht. 1998 Reuters Lid Nil [Ighls rese,[ved. The fol~owln,g news report may not be repu,blL~hed or reclLshibuled. I~i whol~ o~ ~n pa~l. wilhout lhe prior written consent of Reulers Lid By 11~ Fa~[and LONDON. Ma,rch ] 2 (Reulers) - Bdlaln's la,rgest tobacco company Gol,lahe[ Group PIc <GULL> acknowledges that there is a dsk lrom passive smoking bul th,al a l~nk wllh I~-he,aJ'lh has yet 1o be proven by scienhsls. In a,n Interview on Thu,[sday cha~ma,n and chief executive Peter Wl~so,n said. "lhe,[e conlinu,es 1o be a feeling thai passive stag,king has Io be a risk. but il has not been proven. ]he evidence shows It does not produce a stalislica,l~ly sig,nili,ca:nt increase In risk." His views [ellecled lhose o| B.A,T Induslries <BATS.L> chief execullve Martin Broughton on Wednesday, wh,lch coincided wilh lh,e publicallon of a report by a government appointed commlltee of medical experls [acorn,mended ban on smoking tn all public b,ulldlngs. Tl~e report of lhe Sclenlifi,c Comm,ltlee on lobacco and Heallh draws a "definitive link" between passive smoking and killer diseases, and provides lhe sclenllfl,c evidence, which wll~l lorm lhe basis for lhe governmenl's while paper on smoking. lhe commlltee, which took four years tC) review lhe sclenlillc,evldence lhal cigaretles cause diseases, found that living wllh a smoker increased a non-smoker's chances of gelling lung cancer by 25 percenl and of gelling Ischaemic head disease by 23 percent. Wilson said lhe Bdllsh govemmenl has failed Io Ilslen 1o lhe tobacco Indusl[y's a[gumenls aboul govemmenl lax on lobacco. Chancellor Gordon Brown has pledged to increase prices on clgaretles by five polnls ahead of inflallon every yea[. The government's annual budget statement Is due on March | 7. '~/Ve don'l lhlnk they are Ilslenlng Io our argumenls. Their allilude Io tax Is very odd Indeed. If lhey conllnue 1o Increase duly It will only aggravale lhe boollegge[ problem," said Wilson. In 1997, aboul 78 percenl ol lhe price of a packel of premium clgaretles sold in Britain was made up of government dulles and value added lax. A packet of 20 premium clgareltes such as Silk Cut or Benson and fledges went through the three pounds mark as a result of the November 1996 budget increase. • ' ~60#6£$90~ I Rates of duly charged on tobacco In Britain are much l~igher lhon those ch~ged ~ mainland Europe,. creatt_ng on envlYOnmenl which lies unco,u,~ogeL~ both legal and ~,egQI cfoss.bo,fdeI l~ade Mosl ~lle,gg~,g ~ in hQa,d-[oll,ing lo~cco bul GQ,ilaher esl~les lh,ol the l[ade ~0 now QCCOuI~Is (OI o~t three pe[cenl of the UK C~gO,I~lle G,a]llah, e,~ esllmales o,~,ul 75 pe[cenl of a,ll hand~o~ilng lo~cco cons~ed In B~itain now comes l~o,m mainland Eu[op,e, m,ai~ly Bulgtu,m, where il about s~x pounds cheap,eL lo~ o ~-g~a,m,me packel_ 1he Bdlish cig,afeHe ma,~ket d~llned by some four pe[cenl In a,llh,ough Gailahe['s ove[a,il sha,[e of consumer sales rose Io 396 pe[cenl In !~7 l[om 39_1 p,e[cenl_ l~ ~p ~d ~kel s,h~e as s~oke[s landed Io p~ete[ Ils low pdce b{ands Maylat,[ and Sovereign over rival Imp,e[ia,I lobacco's <IM[.L> La,mbe~ and B,ull,e[ b{and 1he low price sector of the clg,a[elte market also contlnu,ed to expand In 1997. up f~om 28 percent In 1996 Io aboul 30 percenl, as smokers conlinued 1o chose cheaper clga[ettes. "We are hal going 1o chase ma[kel share at any price," said Wilson. '1here Is no evidence lhat o~ Increased share In the low pdce suclo~ having any Impacl on lhe premium seclo[." he added "Our aim Is to p[olect our share at lhe premium seclor and g~ow lhe low price seclo~ at lhe same time." sold Wilson. In i997, Gallahe[ sold 66 pe[cenl of ils clg~eHes In B[ileln end derived 85 pe~cenl of Ils prolils from lhe region. 1he company [epoded a 23 pe[cenl Increase in Ils overseas sales. Wilson said the g~oup's trading pedo[mQnce In Ils new financial yea[ were in line wilh lhe company's expeclallons, Gallahe[ posted p[ol~ts belgie tax ol 337.2 m~tllon pounds In lhe yea[ to December 1997, In ils li[sl sel at full year [esulls since it was dame[gad flora American Brands in May 1997 REUIERS