Australia: Stickers to Cover Plain Cigarettes Packaging Go on Sale

Source from:  Courier Mail‎ 12/12/2012

THE federal government has launched an investigation into a company selling stickers for smokers to cover the controversial plain packaging for cigarette packets.

Gold Coast company Box Wraps will today unveil a range of stickers specifically designed to cover the olive green plain packaging that cigarettes must by law carry, The Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Marketed under the slogan "It's your box, it's your choice"- the stickers seek to challenge the plain packaging laws which came into affect  on December 1 after big tobacco companies lost a High court challenge.

Under the new laws, the packages must all be olive green and carry gruesome health warnings without individual trademarks.

Box Wraps said a packet of their stickers will be sold online for $8.75 and there are plans to have them for sale in shops by early next year. The company's website is due to launch today.

The stickers would offer an alternative to smokers who hate the plain packs, General Manager Anthony Do Rozario said. The company has a worldwide patent for the unique product.

"There are 30 different designs in four sizes which will suit male or females, young, old and middle-aged smokers - everything from fishing bums to Aussie flags," the 32-year-old said.

"People feel they have had their choice ripped off them. We are just a sticker company that is no different from a cigarette case," he said.

The stickers are easy to put up said Mr Do Razario who claimed his own mother could put one on a packet in a matter of seconds.

While the product may be welcome news to smokers, the government is not happy and has launched an urgent investigation into the stickers.

"The Department of Health and Ageing will be immediately investigating this product to evaluate its status," a Health Department spokesman said. Enditem