German Advertising and Brand Associations Turn up Heat on Plain Cigarette Packaging

Source from:  Irish Examiner (ie)  08/13/2014

German advertisers and brands have written to the Irish ambassador in Berlin claiming plans for tobacco plain packaging will have "devastating" economic implications for Irish companies.

The chief advertising and brand associations in Germany have also warned that the tobacco market would be "swamped" with counterfeit products and this would "endanger" people's health.

Irish ambassador Michael Collins has received the written warnings from the German Brands Association (Markenverband) and the German Advertising Federation.

The emergence of the letters comes as Enda Kenny faces pressure from German MEPs and other European politicians to scrap Ireland's plans for plain packaging for tobacco products.

The banning of brands on tobacco goods would "upset consumers" and "may well lessen their acceptance of the health warnings", the German Brands Association told the ambassador.

Ireland's plain packaging plans would also help boost the illicit trade in tobacco products, the association's director general Christian Köhler said.

The new law would see the market "swamped with counterfeit products made with no quality control whatsoever," the Irish ambassador was warned.

If brands were misplaced, European goods would stand up to competition from elsewhere, the association warned.

This was a concern as brands helped economic growth in Europe, it said.

The German Advertising Federation went further and claimed that plain packaging would not contribute to improving public health.

Federation director Manfred Parteina told ambassador Collins that plain packaging would suppress businesses' freedom of communication.

The letter added: "Plain packaging would limit consumers choice by destroying brands and, thus infringing trademarks and other intellectual property rights."

Tobacco counterfeiting would also be fostered, the federation warned, adding: "This could endanger people's health as illicit trade with products containing unauthorised additives could increase."

The use of plain packaging would raise questions about enterprises investing money in brands in the future, it said.

"The economic implications of such a development would be devastating not only for the companies in Ireland but also for all trade partners in the European Single Market.

"The German advertising industry would therefore be extremely grateful, if you could take into consideration our arguments in the course of the further discussions," ambassador Collins was told. Enditem