F1 exempted from Malaysian tobacco ban.

Formula One will not be subject to restrictions on cigarette sponsorship at next year's Malaysian Grand Prix - despite the country voting in a complete ban on tobacco advertising from January 2003.

With the number of people taking up smoking on a sharp incline in Malaysia, the national government has moved to tighten the loopholes being exploited by cigarette companies already banned from any form of direct advertising in the country. Restrictions on billboard and other forms of advertising have been in place for nine years, but gaps in the rules have been exploited to the full by the tobacco companies - with sports sponsorship a favourite promotional outlet.

With Europe and America rapidly becoming 'no fly zones' in terms of advertising freedom - and lawsuits multiplying as smokers attempt to claim compensation for their habits - the Far East, with its softer regulations, has become a profitable market for the major industry players.

The new laws, outlined to the national Bernama news agency by health minister Chua Jui Meng, will be more specific in how they control advertising, although Chua admitted that the area of sponsorship - particularly surrounding the lucrative soccer and motorsport arenas - was still 'under discussion'. As a result, the minister said the annual Malaysian leg of the F1 grand prix series would receive temporary exemption from the ban.

The new curb on tobacco advertising and sponsorship is in line with the international efforts of the World Health Organisation [WHO], which has put forward a draft treaty calling for a global end to tobacco promotion, and has already prompted the three biggest cigarette manufacturers in Malaysia to stop all forms of advertising by the end of the year. All three companies - British American Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco - are currently involved in Formula One.