Jump to full article: Daily Independent (ng), 2009-07-22
Author: Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Assistant Editor, Abuja
Intro: British American Tobacco of Nigeria (BATN) pledged on Tuesday to comply with a new legislation that seeks to control tobacco use in the country when it becomes operational.
BATN Area Head of Regional Affairs, Tony Okwoju, made the pledge before the Senate Committee on Health headed by Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.
The committee concluded its two-day public hearing on a bill to enact National Tobacco Control at Tuesday's sitting.
Okwoju said in addition to paying N80 billion tax, the company in 2002 established the BATN Foundation which to date has completed 77 community projects in 34 of the 36 states in Nigeria. . . .
"There are provisions in the bill, which we believe are either extreme and would have unintended consequences or will only make it difficult or impossible for the legal industry to operate, without necessarily achieving the desired objective of reducing the impact of tobacco on public health.
"We have seen cases where extreme regulation has resulted in an increase in the levels of illicit trade"
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