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The UK Plans to Ban All Branding on Cigarette Packaging

Britain's public health minister said plain cigarette boxes would bring the 'prospect of our first smoke-free generation one step closer.'
Photo by Sludge G

The British government wants to pass a law that would see all cigarette packaging in the UK become plain by next year, or possibly much sooner. The legislation would force tobacco firms to remove all branding from their cigarette packs and replace it with "standardized" labeling that only permits certain colors and text.

Public health minister Jane Ellison announced the proposal on Wednesday, stating: "I now propose that we lay regulations for standardized packaging in this parliament to allow for them to come into force at the same time as the European Tobacco Products Directive in May 2016." The government hopes that the law will be voted on by MPs before the UK election in May this year.

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"In doing so we would be bringing the prospect of our first smoke-free generation one step closer," Ellison said.

An estimated 200,000 British children aged between 11-15 years old start smoking each year, while 80,000 people die annually in England from ill health resulting from the habit. After calling smoking one of the UK's "most significant public health challenges," Ellison said that "the policy is a proportionate and justified response." Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, also welcomed the proposal, calling it "a positive move for public health."

However, others were not so approving. UKIP leader Nigel Farage has tweeted his disapproval of the measure, calling it "an appalling intrusion into consumer choice."

Plain packaging is an appalling intrusion into consumer choice and the operation of the free market. Jobs and tax revenue would suffer.

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage)January 21, 2015

Tobacco manufacturers have also expressed anger at the measure. Philip Morris International, which own brands including Marlboro and Benson & Hedges, announced last year that if a law prohibiting branding was passed it would be prepared to sue the government and "seek fair compensation."

Concerns about counterfeiting have also been raised. Paul Baxter, the Chief Executive of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents — an organization that represents independent newsagents — said the "move will take control from a market of responsible retailers to one that comprises a wholly unscrupulous criminal fraternity," going on to slam the measure as "unnecessary, illogical and unwelcome."

In 2012, Australia became the first country in the world to ban branding on cigarette packaging. Opinion is divided about how significant the impact on smokers has been, but statistics on the Australian Department of Health's website say that sales decreased by 3.4 percent in the year after the measures were introduced, and consumption has continued to fall since.

The British government's plan could have a similar impact on a $783 billion industry that is already suffering the effects of reduced consumption following the introduction of e-cigarettes. Reuters announced that shares in tobacco groups had depreciated since the law was unveiled, with FTSE 100 group Imperial Tobacco down 1.3 percent.

Follow Maddie Smith on Twitter: @mddiesmith

Image via Flickr