What the tobacco industry says about plain packging

"There is no evidence it will work"

There is a large, and growing, body of evidence suggesting that plain packaging would be effective. In a range of different studies researchers have consistently found that increasingly plain packaging makes tobacco products less appealing to both children and adults.

Interestingly tobacco industry lobbyists claim that plain packaging will make no difference – yet elsewhere they claim exactly the opposite, that plain packaging will ruin local retailers. There are no grounds to believe either position. The deterrent effect of plain packaging means that tobacco sales should decline gradually, but not immediately, with the main effect being to reduce the number of young people becoming new smokers.

"Tobacco smuggling will increase because plain packs are easily counterfeited"

Counterfeiters have little trouble copying existing packaging - plain packaging will remove all brand logos and colours but retain pictorial health warnings and other markings required on current packs and should not be significantly easier to copy than branded packs. Implementing better international tracking and tracing, including through the use of covert markings on all tobacco packs will assist in distinguishing between authentic and counterfeit packs.

"Plain packs will breach copyright laws"

The use of tobacco trademarks is already limited by law and plain packaging simply takes this process further. Trademarks will not be acquired or used by the Government or any competitor or other agent. International trade agreements do not create a right to use trademarks, while explicitly allowing Governments to implement measures to protect public health.

"Other unhealthy products will be forced into plain packaging"

Tobacco is a special case. It is the only legal consumer product which is lethal to its user when used exactly as the manufacturer intended. Tobacco is the single largest cause of preventable death, killing many more people than alcohol, road accidents, homicides and illegal drugs put together. White bread or crisps do not do this – and plain packs for tobacco will not set a precedent for other consumer products.

"Plain packs will cause confusion and extra costs for small businesses"

Tobacco industry estimates that plain packaging would slow down transaction times by 45 seconds longer per sale were based on a survey of the opinions of just 6 tobacco retailers. Proper research, measuring over 5,000 transactions in a carefully controlled setting found that, if anything, plain packs reduced transaction times and selection errors and certainly didn’t increase them.