Carreras ‘nervous’ as new tobacco control bill threatens entire business operation
Gavin Riley / Our Today
administrator
These are anxious times for Carreras Limited, which could face increased drawback for products if the Government of Jamaica follows through with tobacco control legislation.
The company, Jamaica’s leading marketer and distributor of cigarettes and tobacco-related products, is of the view that the new law would have damning ramifications for its operations.
According to Managing Director Raoul Glynn, further amendments to tobacco control could wreak havoc and upend the way of life of Jamaicans employed by Carreras.
Glynn contended that Carreras Limited was not against drug control, stressing that the company understands and supports any rational regulation of big tobacco.
The issue is being raised by Carreras comes as Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton tabled the Tobacco Control Bill in Jamaica Parliament in December 2020.
At the time, Minister Tufton said the bill puts Jamaica closer to satisfying its commitments to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and a Framework Convention on the Tobacco Control Treaty (FCTC), which the global authority has ratified 14 years ago.
Tufton noted that while Jamaica has an existing Public Health (Tobacco Control) regulations since 2013, the country’s obligations are still far from being met to address the worrying increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) affecting the population.
In a 2018 report, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) attributed tobacco use as a common risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death, which account for almost two-thirds of total worldwide deaths.
“Furthermore, it is a common risk factor for the four main non-communicable diseases: cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and diabetes. In the Americas, non-communicable diseases are responsible for 80% of the total deaths per year (5.2 million) and 35% of premature deaths,” PAHO said.
The organisation came out strongly in 2020 on May 31 for World No Tobacco Day, when it launched a counter-marketing campaign in response to the tobacco and related industries’ “systematic, aggressive and sustained tactics to hook a new generation of users”.
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