Health Minister Nicola Roxon revealed today Coalition rejected to endorse plain cigarette packaging. Roxon explained further, the Coalition will first examine the specifics of the proposed legislation before it considers supporting the change.

As the Australian government wants all cigarette packs colored in olive green designed with intimidating pictures of rotting teeth and diseased eyes, Roxon said that it would be the harshest anti-tobacco marketing in the world.

Roxon summons the Coalition, which accepts political endowments from tobacco companies, to support the change the interest in public health.

Confronted with the question whether to join the government or remain in the shelter of top tobacco corporations, Opposition leader Tony Abott said through a spokesman that the Coalition is yet to decide its position.

Abott clarified in an interview, "We do support sensible measures that are proven to lead to reduced levels of smoking but we want to wait and see the full legislation, and what evidence they are relying on that plain packaging does reduce smoking rates."

British American Tobacco Australia, a giant in the tobacco business, marked a substantial legal fight against the proposed packaging. The company said the administration might have to pay billions in the advantage of cigarette corporations if it brings the plan into completion.

Benson and Hedges, Dunhill and Winfield said the proposition would violate international trademark and laws on intellectual property rights.

If the proposal pushes through, Australia would be the pioneering country to mandate plain packaging of cigarettes.

Plain packs to stop kids from smoking

Meanwhile, Cancer Council Australia and the National Heart Foundation said today young Australians will be less likely to die prematurely from cancer or cardiovascular disease if a newly released draft bill to mandate plain packaging of tobacco products is supported by federal Parliament.

CEO of Cancer Council Australia, Professor Ian Olver, said a glossy branded pack remained the last above-the-line form of advertising to attract and addict new, younger smokers.

“Our research shows that the look of the pack is an important consideration for young people at risk of being drawn to smoking, so this move by the Australian Government has the potential to be one of the most significant public health measures in recent history,” Professor Olver said.
“Despite reduced smoking rates over the past 35 years, tobacco use remains by far the largest preventable cause of cancer mortality in Australia. A product that causes so much cancer death should be sold in bland, generic packets with a powerful graphic warning – and that’s what this bill mandates.”

CEO of the National Heart Foundation of Australia, Dr Lyn Roberts, said with almost one in five Australians still smoking daily, plain packaging was a vital policy measure for helping the nation reach its potential to reduce cardiovascular disease caused by tobacco use.

“Many young people drawn to smoking will think again when they see tobacco is packaged differently from any other mass-marketed consumer product,” Dr Roberts said.

“By avoiding a tobacco addiction, they will dramatically reduce their risk of prematurely developing and dying from heart disease or stroke.”

Professor Olver said Australia had a good record of bipartisan support for policies aimed at reducing tobacco use.

“Successive Australian governments have supported advertising bans, increased tobacco taxes and other measures that have reduced tobacco disease burden,” he said. “I would hope this groundbreaking initiative also receives broad support.”

Dr Roberts said campaigns opposing the initiative, funded by the tobacco industry, were further indication that plain packaging would prevent new smokers from becoming addicted.

“Unfounded and contradictory claims that plain packaging will ruin retail business on one hand yet do nothing to cut consumption on the other simply add to evidence we already have that shows it will work,” she said.

Broader concerns
While industry strongly supports the Federal Government’s health objectives to reduce Australian tobacco consumption, the proposal to enforce plain packaging guidelines for tobacco products raises several more broad and serious industry concerns.

Ai Group Director International and Government Relations, Innes Willox, said the concerns relate to the internationally recognised rights of business to utilise their trademarks and intellectual property to market their products and ensure product standards are adhered to.

"There are also issues of whether the precedent of plain packaging could then be forced onto other legal products in areas such as food and beverages, deemed to be controversial by some sections of the community.

"Apart from the direct impact on the tobacco industry, the proposed guidelines also have major implications for the packaging industry such as the potential for a proliferation of counterfeit packaging. Industry looks forward to further discussing the proposals with the Government in the months ahead," Mr Willox said.