The Live Wire



Press Release

UK should follow Australia and introduce plain cigarette packs

10 November 2011

The Australian Senate has voted to introduce plain tobacco packaging, which will make it the first country in the world to implement such legislation.

It means that from December next year, all cigarette packaging in Australia will be dark olive brown in colour and mostly covered with health warnings. The new law is aimed at preventing tobacco companies from using package design to entice young people to smoke.

Our Chief Executive Peter Hollins said: “The tobacco industry has been fighting hard against these proposals because they realise plain packaging would, over the long-term, reduce the number of young people taking up this lethal habit.

“Here in the UK, two-thirds of current smokers started smoking before they were 18. The Coalition Government has recognised the problem and now should stick to its promise of a public consultation on plain packaging before the end of the year.

“Stripping packs of colour, imagery and logos would reduce tobacco's attractiveness, increases effectiveness of health warnings and stops misleading claims about the harms of smoking.”



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