烟草在线据《烟业通讯》报道编译　　据《曼谷邮报》的一篇报道说，代表着整个泰国大约1300名烟草零售商、批发商和分销商的泰国烟草贸易协会请求泰国卫生部放弃实施更多反烟措施的计划。

　　泰国烟草贸易协会执行理事Varaporn Namatra说：“我们并不反对关注健康，但法律不应该增加零售商的负担，因为出售卷烟并不违反法律。”

　　“法律不应该限制人们的权利和自由。”

　　提议实施的《烟草消费控制法案》的条款，将要求零售商——据说泰国全国有注册零售商48万——提交代价高昂的年报、限制销售人员的年龄、参加反吸烟活动，以及限制展示价格。

　　Varaporn说，《烟草消费控制法案》还禁止大型零售商与政府机构合作开展像对洪灾提供救灾支持这样的慈善计划。

　　她说：“此外，这项法案太过宽泛，内容模糊不清，给卫生部过多的权力，在没有征询公众的意见，或没有国会审核的情况下，发布更多的法规。”

　　根据IpsosThailand代表泰国烟草贸易委员会在1000名零售商中开展的一项新调查，有78%的零售商认为，新法规会对他们的业务产生消极影响。

　　有72%的零售商认为，开展更多的教育活动，而50%的零售商认为，更好地执行现行法律，能够比推行新法规更有效地降低吸烟率。

　　Varaporn说，在零售商预计经济条件明年将会恶化的时候，政府却试验实施会损害零售商，但却对降低吸烟率几乎没有任何影响的代价高昂的烟草法规，这是达不到政府目的的。

　　新的规定经历了四次公众听证，现在向公众评论开放。这个过程将在12月结束。

　　届时，这些规定将被提交给卫生部长和内阁。

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