Carreras Youth Smoking Prevention Programme
Helping to reduce underage smoking is one of Carreras’ key commitments as a responsible tobacco company. Through British American Tobacco’s Statement of Business Principles, specifically the principle of Responsible Product Stewardship, Carreras makes explicit its belief that underage persons should not consume tobacco products.
Additionally, the company also adheres to British American Tobacco’s International Marketing Standards which entail a comprehensive set of guidelines on the responsible marketing and distribution of its products, specifically that our products must only be directed to adult consumers, which are persons aged 18 and older who consume tobacco products.
Our commitment to responsible marketing and distribution of our products is reflected in the company’s implementation of British American Tobacco’s global Youth Smoking Prevention Programme (YSP) in all the outlets which the company markets and distributes its tobacco products since 2008. The primary focus of this Youth Smoking Prevention Programme is tackling underage access to cigarettes at the point of sale.
The importance of this issue has also been recognized by National legislation, specifically section 40 of the Child Care and Protection Act (2004). It states that the owners of establishments selling tobacco products must ensure that tobacco products are not sold to children and that no children sell tobacco products.
We have been told by retailers that the Youth Smoking Prevention point of sale communication material placed in their establishments has helped see a reduction in the number of minors attempting to buy cigarettes. A retail access prevention programme, such as the Youth Smoking Prevention campaign, proves essential in ensuring that tobacco products are not consumed by minors.
The second phase of the Youth Smoking Prevention Programme was launched in May 2010 and is endorsed by both the Ministry and Education and the Child Development Agency. The message of the programme, however, remains the same and that is “I/We don’t sell cigarettes to persons under 18, It’s the Law,” and continues to send a direct message that the retailer and Carreras Limited do not support sales to minors.
