BAT Hits Out Strongly at Plain Pack Proposal

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 02/04/2010

British American Tobacco has come out strongly against a proposal by the British government to require cigarettes to be sold in plain packs. "We welcome the Government's commitment to tackle the serious illicit trade problem in the UK," BAT said on Monday in response to the Department of Health's plans to halve the number of smokers by 2020, which were outlined in its document, "A smokefree future: a comprehensive control strategy for England". "But its decision to consider the case for plain packaging plays right into the hands of the very criminals they seek to clamp down on," BAT said in a press note. "Plain packs would require no complicated logos, colours or designs to be copied making it far easier and cheaper for criminals to flood the market with mass produced fake products for sale on street corners. And the perverse outcome of this is that cigarettes will become more accessible to young people and the sections of society that these regulations seek to protect." "There is no meaningful evidence to suggest that plain packaging would cut the number of young people smoking, nor encourage people to quit as ministers have admitted on many occasions." "Studies to date are speculative at best quoting opinions of how people might or might not behave. Good policy demands a rigorous evidence base." "Packaging is fundamental to consumer choice in a competitive market. Manufacturers, retailers and consumers must be able to identify and distinguish products." "If the government tries to introduce plain packaging it will have a huge fight on its hands. Brands are valuable corporate assets and the government risks breaching various legal obligations relating to intellectual property rights, international trade and European law." "It would also set a dangerous precedent for brands owned and used by other industries." Enditem