What does Brexit mean for UK tobacco control?

Branston, J. Robert; Arnott, Deborah; Gallagher, Allen

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103044

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(12 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP) defined a 'tobacco-free' society as one in which prevalence of tobacco smoking is below 5%. 11 Individual countries vary regarding the target date, with Finland 12 and the Netherlands 13 aiming for 2040, while England aims to be tobaccofree by 2030, 14 Scotland by 2034, 15 France by 2032 16 and the Irish Republic even by 2025. 17…”

Section: 'Tobacco-free Society' Ambitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tobacco control in Europe: progress and key challenges

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We discuss progress made with respect to reducing the burden of disease caused by tobacco use within the WHO European Region and outline major issues and challenges regarding ongoing implementation of tobacco control policy. Although 50 of 53 countries in the WHO European Region are parties to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), smoking prevalence varies tremendously between European countries. While smoking rates are decreasing slowly, faster declines among smokers with a higher socioeconomic status are leading to growing inequalities in tobacco use. Governments in Europe increasingly formulate visions of ‘tobacco-free’ societies and it is encouraging that the European Commission aims to achieve a tobacco-free Europe in 2040 as part of its Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. While core WHO FCTC measures still have to be fully implemented in many European countries, some countries are implementing more advanced measures such as plain packaging, banning of characterising flavours from tobacco products, tobacco retailer licensing and extensions of smoking bans into spaces such as cars, outdoor areas and public streets. Remaining challenges include protecting tobacco control policymaking from tobacco industry interference, insufficient dedicated budget for scientific research and the need for Europe-wide monitoring data on use of tobacco and nicotine products.

show abstract

Section: 'Tobacco-free Society' Ambitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tobacco control in Europe: progress and key challenges

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For tobacco tax, Brexit gives the UK more freedom to change the level and structure of tax on tobacco products, e.g. the UK could move to a fully specific system of taxation, and Brexit could also allow the UK to directly regulate tobacco pricing by the use of policies such as minimum unit pricing 128 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Options for modifying UK alcohol and tobacco tax: A rapid scoping review of the evidence over the period 1997–2018

Hatchard,

Buykx,

Brennan

et al. 2023

NIHR Open Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Increased taxation is recognised worldwide as one of the most effective interventions for decreasing tobacco and harmful alcohol use, with many variations of policy options available. This rapid scoping review was part of a NIHR-funded project (‘SYNTAX’ 16/105/26) and was undertaken during 2018 to inform interviews to be conducted with UK public health stakeholders with expertise in alcohol and tobacco pricing policy. Methods: Objectives: To synthesise evidence and debates on current and potential alcohol and tobacco taxation options for the UK, and report on the underlying objectives, evidence of effects and mediating factors. Eligibility criteria: Peer-reviewed and grey literature; published 1997–2018; English language; UK-focused; include taxation interventions for alcohol, tobacco, or both. Sources of evidence: PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Google, stakeholder and colleague recommendations. Charting methods: Excel spreadsheet structured using PICO framework, recording source characteristics and content. Results: Ninety-one sources qualified for inclusion: 49 alcohol, 36 tobacco, 6 both. Analysis identified four policy themes: changes to excise duty within existing tax structures, structural reforms, industry measures, and hypothecation of tax revenue for public benefits. For alcohol, policy options focused on raising the price of cheap, high-strength alcohol. For tobacco, policy options focused on raising the price of all tobacco products, especially the cheapest products, which are hand-rolling tobacco. For alcohol and tobacco, there were options such as levies that take money from the industries to help reduce the societal costs of their products. Due to the perceived social and economic importance of alcohol in contrast to tobacco, policy options also discussed supporting pubs and small breweries. Conclusions: This review has identified a set of tax policy options for tobacco and alcohol, their objectives, evidence of effects and related mediating factors. The differences between alcohol and tobacco tax policy options and debates suggest an opportunity for cross-substance policy learning.

show abstract

“…While the UK formally exited the EU on 31 January 2020, its close ongoing relationship with the EU, and the special arrangements for Northern Ireland in the Brexit withdrawal agreement mean that this part of the UK sharing a land border with the Republic of Ireland will continue to be subject to the TTD. 11 For these reasons, tobacco tax policies in the EU will continue to have important spillover effects in the UK, and vice versa, for the foreseeable future. On a more technical note, its inclusion contributes to maximising the degree of price and tax variation on which the identification of price responses to tax changes hinges.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting convergence and closing gaps: a blueprint for the revision of the European Union Tobacco Tax Directive

Nicolás

Branston

2021

Tob Control

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and aimsDespite the European Union (EU) Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD), a lack of convergence in EU tobacco prices promotes high levels of cross-border shopping and down-trading from factory-made (FM) to roll-your-own tobacco (RYO) cigarettes. This study presents a blueprint for reform, whereby minimum taxes are related to the overall price level in the EU and where taxation of RYO is related to that of FM.MethodsLongitudinal data on prices and taxes on FM and RYO in 25 member states over 2011–2019 are used to estimate econometric models for their weighted average prices as a function of taxes. Two scenarios are simulated with the models’ estimates: a baseline scenario for the actual tax stance pertaining to 2020 and a reform scenario implementing the blueprint.ResultsThe baseline results show that, while the prices of both products have experienced a slight increase since 2016 in real terms, the dispersion in the prices of FM across countries has increased and the difference in the prices of RYO within countries has widened. The results for the reform scenario show dispersion would diminish both EU-wide and in hotspots for cross-border sales of FM. The reform would also lead to a substantial reduction in the price gap between FM and RYO.ConclusionTo promote price convergence and close the price gap between FM and RYO, the revised TTD should ensure minimum FM taxes track a measure of their average EU price, and RYO taxes are related to FM taxes.

show abstract

What does Brexit mean for UK tobacco control?

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

Tobacco control in Europe: progress and key challenges

Tobacco control in Europe: progress and key challenges

Options for modifying UK alcohol and tobacco tax: A rapid scoping review of the evidence over the period 1997–2018

Promoting convergence and closing gaps: a blueprint for the revision of the European Union Tobacco Tax Directive

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About