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Cigarette ban to hurt small businesses

Plans to ban visible cigarette displays in NSW shops, supermarkets and tobacconists will threaten the viability of sMall businesses, a lobby group says. The Council of SMall Business of Australia (COSBOA) said it's yet to see any evidence that a visibility ban has any effect in reducing the amount of people smoking. It said in the Saskatchewan province in Canada, the first area to bring in such a ban, youth smoking rates had increased. COSBOA chief executive Tony Steven said the ban will only change where smokers buy their Cigarettes. "If it's not visible customer behaviour just goes to where they know it will be," Mr Steven told AAP. "There will be the precedent of going to where they have always gone but our fear ... is that market share will move to the bigger companies." Mr Steven said placing the Cigarettes out of site would also potentially slow down how long it takes to serve a customer. This would be especially problematic for those sMaller stores who only have one person working behind the counter, he said. "It's simply a measure to placate noisy lobbyists that feel that this product, even though it's legal, should be done away with altogether and it's just not going to happen," Mr Steven said. "You can't go to a total state of banning the product otherwise you'll just drive it underground and that becomes just worse. "The best thing is to manage this product through education." The NSW government announced the ban on cigarette displays last month, with supermarkets and larger chain stores given six months to comply with the changes. SMaller retailers have a year to move the products out of sight.