Cigarette Inspectors Ready To Roll

[george]

Cigarette inspectors ready to roll

BANGKOK: -- Tobacco-control officials will soon begin checking shops and convenience stores across the country to ensure that they respect the Public Health Ministry’s ban on cigarette displays at points of purchase.

The ban starts on Saturday.

Disease Control Department deputy director-general Dr Narong Methapat said yesterday officials would only be giving warnings if shops or stores still display cigarette packets when the inspectors visit.

“After some time, another inspection will be conducted. If the ban on their being displayed is still being flouted, officials will issue written warnings,” Narong said.

Any shop or store that keeps ignoring the ban would face legal action, he warned. If convicted, store owners could face fines of up to Bt200,000.

Narong was speaking as he led a team to inspect shops along Narai Prabseuk Road in Samut Prakan, all of which had taken cigarettes from their shelves.

Boonchai Anongpornyoskul, who runs a cigarette retail and wholesale shop in the area, said: “We are willing to co-operate. We just keep the cigarettes in drawers.”

He said he had chosen to display only “cigarettes for sale” signs at his shop, adding he might have to consider some other goods to sell in the future.

The Public Health Ministry initiated the ban after a survey indicated that displays at points of purchase made around 60 per cent of children aged below 18 years want to buy cigarettes.

Narong said the display of cigarettes at points of purchase was effective, otherwise foreign cigarette companies would not pay up to Bt4 trillion on marketing in the United States.

--The Nation 2005-09-22