In Australia where plain cigarette packaging is mandated by law, evidence continues to mount that the use of plain packs protect our youth from becoming replacement smokers.
Other countries, like New Zealand, the U.K., and even the U.S.A. have attempted to follow suit, but their elected leaders seem to prefer serving corporate interests/profits over the health of their entire constituency, and the efforts against plain packaging by Big Tobacco continue to prevail.
But, not every political leader caves to corporate threats or demands. Following Australia's efforts to put public health ahead of corporate profits, Ireland has become the second country in the world to legally mandate plain cigarette packaging. Kudos to Ireland for doing the right thing!
And what does Big Tobacco have to say about it? The tobacco industry claims that plain packs would be easier to counterfeit and would lead to more organized crime. Go figure.
I wonder what organized crime leaders would have to say about Big Tobacco's fear-mongering?
Source: Foundation Against Cancer | HT: REframe Kent
Confidential documents leaked to the Observer reveal how the world's largest tobacco company sought to kill the government's plans to introduce standard packs for cigarettes, using a sophisticated lobbying campaign that targeted key politicians and civil servants who it believed were supportive of its views.
ReplyDeleteDocuments circulated within Philip Morris International (PMI) last February and March, marked "for internal discussion and illustration purposes only", show how the owner of the Marlboro brand drew up an astonishingly detailed attack plan to "ensure that PP [plain packaging] is not adopted in the UK".
This goal explicitly contradicts big tobacco's public position, presented to the government, that there was a need to assess how the measure had been received in Australia, where unbranded packs were introduced last year, before a decision was made on whether it should be copied in the UK.
Read more at: Revealed: tobacco giant's secret plans to see off plain cigarette packets
Britain's tobacco industry is accused of fueling the black market for its products by oversupplying European countries, leaving the surplus available for smugglers to bring back in free of tax.
ReplyDeleteUnder supply chain legislation, tobacco firms have a legal obligation not to aid smuggling but HMRC has not fined any UK tobacco manufacturer for oversupplying products and has issued only one letter of warning.
Read more at: Tobacco companies fuel black market in Britain, say MPs
Big Tobacco is driving the world’s greatest preventable epidemic of death and disease, aggressively expanding in the world’s lowest-income countries. Our campaign saves lives by working with allies across the globe to secure health policies over the objection, intimidation and interference of the tobacco industry.
ReplyDeleteRead more at - Corporate Accountability International: Challenge Big Tobacco