Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is aware of the statement by Action on Smoking and Health on 7 September 2004 on the legal framework for smoking tobacco and snus in the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department is aware of the statement.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Committee on Toxicity has been able to obtain independent confirmation of manufacturers' findings in regards to heat-not-burn products.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Committees on Toxicity, Carcinogenicity and Mutagenicity’s statement on heat-not-burn tobacco products in 2017 was based on data provided by the manufacturers as well as the available independent data on these products. As this is not standard practice, the Department has not obtained independent confirmation of the data assessed by the Committee on Toxicity.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's position as a signatory to Article 1(d) of the World Health Organisations Framework Convention Tobacco Control, if she will reaffirm her Department's commitment to harm reduction strategies to reduce smoking.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We are not aware of any proposals from other countries on the formation of an intersessional Working Group at the Ninth Conference of the Parties. Should any proposals be made, we will fully consider the details before making a decision as to whether to support them.
In support of our ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030, we continue to take a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to e-cigarettes, promoting the important role they play in smoking cessation whilst preventing non-smokers and young people from using them. On other harm reduction products, we are clear that any products which contain tobacco are harmful to health.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the UK delegation’s position statement at the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Ninth Conference of the Parties is planned to support vaping devices as harm reduction tools.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We are not aware of any proposals from other countries on the formation of an intersessional Working Group at the Ninth Conference of the Parties. Should any proposals be made, we will fully consider the details before making a decision as to whether to support them.
In support of our ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030, we continue to take a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to e-cigarettes, promoting the important role they play in smoking cessation whilst preventing non-smokers and young people from using them. On other harm reduction products, we are clear that any products which contain tobacco are harmful to health.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy for the UK delegation to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Ninth Conference of the Parties to support any requests from countries on the formation of an intersessional Working Group to hear evidence on the use of vaping devices as harm reduction tools.
Answered by Maggie Throup
We are not aware of any proposals from other countries on the formation of an intersessional Working Group at the Ninth Conference of the Parties. Should any proposals be made, we will fully consider the details before making a decision as to whether to support them.
In support of our ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030, we continue to take a pragmatic and evidence-based approach to e-cigarettes, promoting the important role they play in smoking cessation whilst preventing non-smokers and young people from using them. On other harm reduction products, we are clear that any products which contain tobacco are harmful to health.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care of 10 June 2021, Official Report, Column 465WH, what recent progress has been made towards the review into Swedish snus; and what her planned timetable is for that review.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The sale of oral tobacco is banned in the United Kingdom under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The Department is undertaking a post implementation review of these regulations and is analysing the evidence base submitted through a public consultation and external research. This includes evidence on oral tobacco. The Department is due to publish its response later this year.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will undertake a comparative assessment of the scientific evidence on the impact on health of (a) the use of smokeless tobacco products, such as Swedish snus and (b) smoking as part of the Tobacco and Related Products Review.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A comparative assessment of the scientific evidence on the impact on health of the use of smokeless tobacco products, such as Swedish snus, and smoking, is out of the scope of the Post Implementation Review (PIR) of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. The purpose of the PIR is to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the legislation in achieving its objectives along with any unintended consequences that may have occurred.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the Western Europe Regional meeting is taking place ahead of the 9th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; if he will publish the agenda for that meeting ahead of that meeting; and what steps he plans to take to advocate for an evidence-based approach on harm reduction alternatives to tobacco at that meeting.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has not been made aware of any proposals to hold a Western European Regional meeting.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the UK delegation’s notes from the Global Tobacco Regulators Forum held on between 7-9 July 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The World Health Organisation hosts the Global Tobacco Regulators Forum meetings and does not make its papers publicly available. The meeting is attended by Department officials and we do not intend on publishing their notes from the meeting.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 10 June 2021, Official Report, column 465WH, if will he will conduct a review on the regulatory status of snus products in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Oral tobacco products or snus are banned under The Tobacco and Related Product Regulations 2016.
The Department is currently undertaking a post implementation review of the Regulations which will consider if they have met their objectives or if any future regulatory changes should be considered. The report of the review will be published by the end of the year.