The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) announced on its website Wednesday that it is withdrawing from the alliance that challenges the federal government's proposed plain packaging for retailing cigarettes.

The convenience stores group said that it had realised that members of the Alliance of Australian Retailers were advocating for conflicting priorities which ran counter to AACS' preferred concentration on "broader issues that affect the Convenience sector."

In spite of the separation, the AACS reaffirmed its commitment to sustain its campaign against the government's stringent regulation of the tobacco industry, which could lead to the emergence of a black market industry as legitimate retailers were increasingly marginalised by federal efforts to discourage smoking.

Affected cigarette retailers are in agreement with giant tobacco companies' contention that the planned plain packaging for cigarettes would only spawn a black market sector of the industry that would cater to hardcore smoking aficionados.

The government revealed in April that it is set to introduce plain packaging for the tobacco industry on 2012 and in which retailed cigarette packs would only be permitted to carry brand names in standard style, with the graphic health advisory still present on each pack.

In a show of support, anti-smoking advocacy groups lauded the commonwealth's initiatives, declaring that the groundbreaking policy would place Australia in the forefront of global campaign against cigarette smoking.

Once implemented, the proposed plain packaging measures would make Australia as the first country in the world to impose generic labelling on tobacco products.