Tobacco giant to put its case to inquiry

FAIRFAX

THE CASE FOR SMOKING: British-American Tobacco, or BAT, is the first, and biggest, of three tobacco companies that have made submissions to the Maori Affairs select committee.

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The country's biggest tobacco company will tell a parliamentary committee it will fight for the right to display cigarettes in shops.

But Maori MP Hone Harawira will be asking "as many questions as possible" when British-American Tobacco appears today before an inquiry into the tobacco industry and its effects on Maori health – and says the company is simply seeking "ways and means to allow them to continue to sell their poison".

British-American Tobacco, or BAT, is the first, and biggest, of three tobacco companies that have made submissions to the Maori Affairs select committee.

Mr Harawira is seeking a ban on tobacco in New Zealand and last year said he wanted to see tobacco company executives front up to the committee to defend their industry. He threatened to have Parliament's Speaker formally summon them to appear, before they voluntarily agreed to make submissions.

BAT controls about 75 per cent of all cigarette sales and nearly 80 per cent of roll-your-own tobacco sales.

BAT's New Zealand managing director, Graeme Amey, will tell the committee that his company is supportive of a minimum retail price for tobacco, but not a ban on retail tobacco displays or a complete ban on tobacco. The Government should "address health concerns while maintaining individual adult choice", the company's submission said.

BAT has denied promoting smoking to Maori or teenagers, but Mr Harawira said he believed the company was lying.

"There's ample international evidence and historical evidence that the tobacco companies have always targeted indigenous people and people of colour."

The committee has received submissions from nearly 2000 people.

- © Fairfax NZ News