When governments regulate tobacco, they usually take a variety of measures, including:

tax increases

smoking bans

marketing restrictions

consumer information and education, for instance through health warnings

product standardization, such as maximum tar and nicotine yield measurements

Governments’ principal aim, as they apply these measures, is to reduce the harm that smoking causes.

We share that aim and, for the most part, we’ve no fundamental objections to the measures themselves. But we do believe that they could be applied more effectively.

Many governments take a piecemeal approach to tobacco regulation; we believe a comprehensive regulatory framework – where fiscal policy, consumer information, licensing and other measures complement each other – can produce better results.

For example, tax increases can be a good way to reduce consumption. But they need to apply to all tobacco products equally, and they need to be combined with effective border controls. Otherwise smokers may merely downtrade to cheaper or other tobacco products, with little effect on overall tobacco consumption and the harm that it causes.

We’ve been discussing ways of improving tobacco regulation with governments and health authorities in many countries for some time. For recent examples of those discussions, please see the links on the right.