煙草在線據《煙業通訊》報道編譯　　據《曼谷郵報》的一篇報道說，代表著整個泰國大約1300名煙草零售商、批發商和分銷商的泰國煙草貿易協會請求泰國衛生部放棄實施更多反煙措施的計劃。

　　泰國煙草貿易協會執行理事Varaporn Namatra說：“我們并不反對關注健康，但法律不應該增加零售商的負擔，因為出售卷煙并不違反法律?！?/p>

　　“法律不應該限制人們的權利和自由。”

　　提議實施的《煙草消費控制法案》的條款，將要求零售商——據說泰國全國有注冊零售商48萬——提交代價高昂的年報、限制銷售人員的年齡、參加反吸煙活動，以及限制展示價格。

　　Varaporn說，《煙草消費控制法案》還禁止大型零售商與政府機構合作開展像對洪災提供救災支持這樣的慈善計劃。

　　她說：“此外，這項法案太過寬泛，內容模糊不清，給衛生部過多的權力，在沒有征詢公眾的意見，或沒有國會審核的情況下，發布更多的法規?！?/p>

　　根據IpsosThailand代表泰國煙草貿易委員會在1000名零售商中開展的一項新調查，有78%的零售商認為，新法規會對他們的業務產生消極影響。

　　有72%的零售商認為，開展更多的教育活動，而50%的零售商認為，更好地執行現行法律，能夠比推行新法規更有效地降低吸煙率。

　　Varaporn說，在零售商預計經濟條件明年將會惡化的時候，政府卻試驗實施會損害零售商，但卻對降低吸煙率幾乎沒有任何影響的代價高昂的煙草法規，這是達不到政府目的的。

　　新的規定經歷了四次公眾聽證，現在向公眾評論開放。這個過程將在12月結束。

　　屆時，這些規定將被提交給衛生部長和內閣。

Thai Retailers Say Proposed Tobacco Measures Will Hit Them, Not Smoking

　　The Thai Tobacco Trade Association (TTTA), which represents about 1,300 retailers, wholesalers and distributors acrossThailand, has called on the Ministry of Public Health to abandon plans for further anti-tobacco measures, according to a story in the Bangkok Post.

　　"We are not against health concerns, but the law should not increase the burden on retailers as selling cigarettes is not against the law," said TTTA executive director Varaporn Namatra.

　　"The law should not limit people's rights and freedoms."

　　The provisions under the proposed Tobacco Consumption Control Act (TCCA) will require retailers - there are said to be 480,000 registered retailers nation-wide - to submit costly annual reports, restrict the age of sales persons, participate in anti-smoking campaigns and restrict the display of prices.

　　The TCCA would also prohibit major retailers from partnering government agencies in conducting charitable programs, such as providing disaster relief support in response to flooding, Varaporn said.

　　"Moreover, the draft is too broad, ambiguous and gives the Public Health Ministry too much authority to issue further regulations without public consultation or review by parliament," she said.

　　According to a new poll conducted amongst 1,000 retailers by IpsosThailandon behalf of TTTA, 78 per cent of retailers believe the new regulations will negatively affect their businesses.

　　Seventy two per cent of retailers believe more education and 50 per cent believe better enforcement of current laws would be more effective in reducing smoking rates than would the introduction of new regulations.

　　At a time when retailers expected economic conditions to worsen next year, it might be counter-productive of the government to experiment with costly tobacco regulations that would hurt retailers but do very little, if anything at all, to reduce smoking levels, said Varaporn.

　　The new provisions have undergone four public hearings and are open to the public for comments. The process should be finished next month.

　　At that time, the provisions will be submitted to the health minister and the cabinet. Enditem