Press Release

Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS)

NSW Government intends to introduce tobacco display bans

For immediate release 30th July 2008

Today the Iemma Government in NSW announced that it intends to introduce display bans within 12 months for all tobacco retailers in NSW.

AACS provided valuable research as part of its submission on the tobacco display proposals about the expected impact on small retailers if these display restrictions were introduced. AACS attended and spoke at the public consultation forum, attended a separate meeting with Minister Firth and other retailers and spoke to other Government departments as part of the process to highlight to the Government what the unintended consequences would be on small retailers. None of this was taken into account at all. Instead the Government has opted to believe the anti smoking lobbyists who claim that visible pack ends in a store amount to an invitation to tempt those trying to quit to continue smoking. The Government has also stated that they believe that such visibility tempts youth smokers when it is already illegal to sell tobacco product to minors.

This is another example of a Government ignoring the plight of small businesses. They are happy to “experiment” with the businesses of small retailers as a way of appeasing the anti smoking lobby groups who have been unable to prove any link whatsoever between display bans in other markets and a reduction in overall smoking rates.

AACS contends putting tobacco packs out of sight will increase complexity for small retailers in that:

• It will take longer to serve legal customers buying tobacco as staff search for the product requested
• It will take longer to restock tobacco storage units as staff attempt to locate the correct slot in which a product should be located
• It will place a bigger training burden on store operators when it comes to training new staff
• The retailers will have to pay upwards of $6000 to comply with the display restrictions.

Executive Director, David Killeen, said today:

“Another nail in the coffin of small businesses. Our surveys in the ACT and NSW among small retailers indicated that they felt they would lose business to supermarkets. This will happen because customers will become frustrated by the delays that these new regulations will bring about when serving all customers. You can imagine the extra queuing that will ensue as new staff members try to find tobacco products in the storage units.

The Government just don’t get it. These are not displays they are storage units designed to enable staff to identify where a product is located. In other countries where display bans have been introduced on the back of some emotional opinion by the anti smoking groups there has been no reduction in smoking overall but there has been a shift from small business to the supermarkets, particularly in certain provinces in Canada.

“Minister Firth even invited small retailers and their associations to meet with her two weeks ago and heard first hand what would happen to their businesses. It’s simply that the Government does not care about small retailers no matter what they say....very disappointing. When we finally establish that these proposals do not work based on sales of tobacco in NSW will the Government do an about turn....not likely. They will simply look the other way”

AACS has invited the Government influence pharmaceutical companies to allow retailers to freely sell all brands of nicotine replacement products and has offered to help organise a national training program for retailers including the maintenance of records to prove that staff have been trained in selling tobacco products legally.

For further comment please call David Killeen on 0417 385 931