Plain Packaging in Australia has Failed, Tobacco Giants Claim

Source from:  The Telegraph  03/26/2014

Tobacco giants have raised the pressure on the Government to abandon plans for plain cigarette packs, after figures from Australia showed legal sales of tobacco increased in the first year following the policy's introduction.

Data from across the industry in Australia shows that legal tobacco sales rose by 59m cigarettes in the 12 months after plain packaging was rolled out in December 2012, representing the first rise since 2009.

The Government has commissioned a review, to be carried out by paediatrician Sir Cyril Chantler, to consider similar proposals for plain packaging in this country.

Tobacco companies hope evidence from Australia will help to stop the spread of plain packaging to other countries, amid claims it won't reduce smoking rates and will simply drive more people to buy cigarettes on the black market.

The claims are contested by health campaigners, including Cancer Research UK, which argues that the removal of all branding from tobacco packs renders them less attractive to both adults and children.

Eoin Dardis, director of corporate affairs for Philip Morris, said on Monday: "Plain packaging in Australia has not reduced smoking rates and has had no impact on youth smoking prevalence. Consumers aren't smoking less, they are just buying cheaper alternatives like roll-your-own cigarettes or turning to branded packs available on the black market."

Daniel Torras, UK managing director for Japan Tobacco International, said: "We have consistently said that no evidence has emerged from Australia to show that plain packaging has had any positive behavioural impact at all, these latest figures and the news that the illegal trade is increasing in Australia, would appear to support that view."

The UK held a consultation on plain packaging in 2012 but hopes were raised that the policy had been abandoned in July last year, when the Prime Minister, David Cameron, suggested there was insufficient evidence to show that removing all branding from tobacco packets would prevent young people from smoking.

However, the proposal was resurrected in November when the Government ordered a fresh review to examine the "emerging evidence" on the effectiveness of plain packaging.

Plain packaging was introduced in Australia after a legal challenge by the tobacco majors failed to convinced the courts that the policy unlawfully extinguished the value of their trade marks without compensation.

Last month, British American Tobacco (BAT) warned the UK Government that it would be prepared to pursue court action in this country if similar anti-smoking measures were pushed through.

Meanwhile, BAT's annual report, published on Monday, showed that Nicandro Durante, the chief executive of the world's second biggest tobacco company, received a total of £6.5m in pay and benefits for 2013, up from £6.3m the year before. Enditem