Kelley Lee

When the US Congress passed the Federal Cigarette Labelling and Advertising Act in 1965, which banned tobacco advertising on radio and TV, and required warning labels on packaging, it was considered a radical move. The legislation came on the heels of the US Surgeon's report on smoking and health, and when per capita cigarette consumption among Americans was at an all-time high.(1)

Australia's adoption of plain packaging legislation in 2012 is seen as equally radical at a time when the annual worldwide death toll from tobacco use has reached six million people. More than half of the world's countries have now banned some forms of tobacco marketing.(2)

Packaging has become what some describe as the 'last bastion' of tobacco marketing. And there is much to play for. Consumption of tobacco products continues to grow despite declines in most high-income countries. Today there are a billion smokers.(3)

Australia's introduction of plain packaging is being carefully watched. The Canadian government tried to introduce a similar policy in the 1990s but was thwarted by industry opposition.(5) There are calls to revive these efforts but the current Conservative government remains unmoved. A similar story played out in France where an MP unsuccessfully tabled a plain packaging Bill in 2010 amid fierce industry protest.

Other governments, such as Norway, are considering options. Both the New Zealand and British ministries of health are considering their next moves after consultations in 2012. The European Union launched a consultation in 2010, with legal scholars considering plain packaging consistent with primary European law. However, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli's resignation in 2012 threw plans to strengthen tobacco regulations into disarray and plain packaging was left to EU member states to choose. (6) India and Turkey are both currently working on new plain packaging regulations.

(1) US Department of Health and Human Services. Ending the Tobacco Epidemic, Progress Toward a Healthier Nation. Washington, DC, August 2012. http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/tobacco/tobaccoprogress2012.pdf

(2) Henriksen L. Comprehensive tobacco marketing restrictions: promotion, packaging, price and place. Tobacco Control 2012; 21: 147-53.

(3) WHO. Tobacco. Fact Sheet No. 339, Geneva, May 2012. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/index.html

(4) WHO. Global Adult Tobacco Survey. Geneva, 2012. http://www.who.int/tobacco/surveillance/gats/en/index.html

(5) Physicians for a Smokefree Canada. The Plot against Plain Packaging. Ottawa, 2008. http://www.smoke-free.ca/pdf_1/plotagainstplainpackaging-apr1'.pdf

(6) Kanter J. Europe's Top Health Official Quits, and the Bloc Has a Mystery on Its Hands. New York Times, 24 October 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/world/europe/dalli-resignation-leaves-eu-with-a-mystery.html?_r=0

Kelley Lee is an Associate Fellow at the Centre on Global Health Security, Chatham House

 

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Health - The World's Struggle to Kick the Habit

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