Tobacco companies face packaging dispute in Australia
Source: www.thirdage.com Author: Caitlin Bronson The Australian tobacco industry is fighting to retain their rights to advertise on their own packaging in response to legislation slated to be introduced in Parliament in July. The new law would allow the Australian government to replace the currently bright packaging of cigarette packs with a uniform olive green color, along with health warnings and full-color images of the consequences of smoking. The brand name of the cigarette would appear in small print underneath the depictions of things like mouth cancer or gangrenous toes. The logic behind the dull and disturbing packaging is simple—if smoking is presented in an unattractive light, more Australians will quit smoking and less young people will pick up the habit. However, the country does not have a precedent to look to in this matter, as none other has tried it. And the tobacco industry is warning against it. The Associated Press reports that the uniform packaging required by the hypothetical law would be easy to counterfeit, allowing for illegal Asian tobacco, on which tax is not paid, to enter the Australian market. To compete against the illegal product, companies like British American Tobacco Australia Ltd. (BATA) have said they would cut prices for cigarettes. This could backfire on the government, causing more Australians to take up the habit. “If they keep pushing us down this path with this experimental piece of legislation, unfortunately it’s going to end up in court, and it’s likely to cost millions of dollars, and [...]