American lobby groups condemning the Government’s bid for plain packaging on cigarettes are attempting to muddy the debate and their arguments should be scrutinised, a marketing professor says.
At least two US lobby groups have backed claims by British American Tobacco (BAT) in a campaign costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that there is no evidence plain packaging will reduce smoking.
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THE government has no plans to implement plain cigarette packaging like Australia, the first country in the world to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging.
This was because the Australian government is currently facing legal action both domestically and internationally from several tobacco companies, the Health Ministry told Parliament in a written reply yesterday. Ream more »
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to stand with Australia as it resists the tobacco industry’s efforts to prevent plain packaging of tobacco products.
“Australia scored a major victory when its highest court recently upheld the country’s novel plain packaging law,” said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, during the sixty-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific. Ream more »
Australia’s health minister has condemned cigarette company Imperial Tobacco’s partial move towards plain packaging, labelling it “the ultimate sick joke”. All tobacco products manufactured or packaged for domestic consumption will be required to be sold in plain packaging from October 1, but Imperial Tobacco has pre-empted this in a new marketing campaign, telling cigarette retailers “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”. Ream more »
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) launched a campaign on July 6 to highlight the potential consequences of enforcing standardized (plain packaging) cigarette packs in the United Kingdom.
“There is a debate shaping up around standardized packaging and we are an important part of it,” said Martin Southgate, managing director in the U.K. for JTI. Ream more »
Smoking is about to become a very costly habit in Russia. By 2018, the average pack price is projected to rise to almost 150 rubles ($5) – five times as much as the current price – according to a recent report by the International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC). The report was issued after experts at the center analyzed a new Russian government tax plan. Specialists expect the cost of smoking in Russia to increase on average 150 percent by 2018.
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International tobacco company Philip Morris has filed another legal challenge against the Federal Government’s plain packaging laws for tobacco products.
It already is challenging the laws under Australia’s bilateral trade treaty with Hong Kong and is seeking damages. Philip Morris is the third tobacco company to lodge a case in the High Court against the new laws.
British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco already have launched their own challenges to the legislation.
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RoBritish American Tobacco (BAT) is gearing up to take on the Australian government in a High Court challenge against its plan to enforce a plain packaging law for cigarettes. According to AFP, BAT is claiming the legislation violates its intellectual property rights.
The new law, which goes into effect December 1, 2012, would require all tobacco products sold in the country to be packaged in plain, beige wrapping. The packaging would also feature health warnings and disturbing images, such as diseased lungs and sick babies.
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The new “cancer comedy” 50 / 50 takes its name from the survival odds delivered to its protagonist as he’s diagnosed with cancer.
Your chance of not gagging when you see the new cigarette warning labels introduced this week by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq? Far less. Companies have until June to get their art departments on the horror show, which will see 75 per cent of cigarette packaging plastered with diseased and rotting tongues, bloody urine in a toilet bowl and the gaping hole where a smoker named Leroy had his larynx removed.
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Drastic plans by Australia to become the first country to enforce plain packaging for cigarettes could cut smoking rates, and are likely to be emulated by Canada, New Zealand, and Britain, reinforcing Australia’s record as a world leader in antismoking measures.
The Australian government has announced draft legislation to outlaw all logos, colors, brand imagery, and promotional text from cigarette packets. The move will “take away the tobacco industry’s final capacity to promote its product,” says John Daube, professor of public health at Curtin University’s Institute of Public Policy in Perth. Ream more »