Introduction Of Plain Packaging Research Articles

The Prospects for Tobacco Plain Packaging in Asia: No Longer Smoke up in the Air?

The finalization of negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) in October 2015 saw an exemption for tobacco products in the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. This carve out for tobacco products paved the way for governments to consider introducing plain packaging without the concern that tobacco companies would take legal action against them. Most prominent, however, has been the World Trade Organization’s (“WTO’s”) 2018 ruling affirming a country’s right to impose tobacco plain-packaging rules because WTO agreements contain exemptions that permit countries to implement regulations which deemed it necessary to protect the health of their citizens. This article discusses the impact of this decision on initial proponents of tobacco plain packaging including Australia who have introduced statutory limitations on tobacco plain packaging, and the impact that these negotiations will have on opponents of plain packaging, particularly for countries in Asia with establishing trademark regimes. This article presents fresh insight into the legality or otherwise of this tobacco control measure under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, relevant international health instruments, and negotiations over the TPP. In particular, it makes pertinent policy recommendations to pave the way forward for legislatures and policy-makers after an analysis of whether plain packaging comes within the scope of the international system for trademark protection as implemented in Thailand, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.

Decrease in cross-border tobacco purchases despite intensification of antitobacco policies in France

BackgroundRecently, France has intensified tobacco control policies which included gradual increase in tobacco product price and the introduction of plain packaging. However, there has been suggestion that cross-border tobacco purchases...

Changes in roll-your-own tobacco and cigarette sales volume and prices before, during and after plain packaging legislation in the UK

BackgroundPlain packaging and minimum pack size legislation for tobacco products was introduced in the UK in May 2016, with a 1-year sell-off period until May 2017, during which both fully...

The Global Tobacco Epidemic, the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, and the World Trade Organization

In response to complaints by Ukraine, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Indonesia, the government of Australia has defended the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products in the World Trade Organization. This article focuses upon the legal defence of Australia before the WTO Panel. A key part of its defence has been the strong empirical evidence for the efficacy of plain packaging of tobacco products as a legitimate health measure designed to combat the global tobacco epidemic. Australia has provided a convincing case that plain packaging of tobacco products is compatible with the TRIPS Agreement 1994, particularly the clauses relating to the aims and objectives of the agreement; the requirements in respect of trade mark law; and the parallel measures in relation to access to essential medicines. Australia has also defended the consistency of plain packaging of tobacco products with the TBT Agreement 1994. Moreover, Australia has provided clear reasons for why the plain packaging of tobacco products is compatible with GATT. The position of Australia has been reinforced by a number of third parties — such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Canada, and others — which have also been pioneers in tobacco control and public health. Australia’s leadership in respect of tobacco control and plain packaging of tobacco products is further supported by larger considerations in respect of international public health law, human rights, and sustainable development.

The necessity of introducing plain packaging of tobacco products in Korea

The necessity of introducing plain packaging of tobacco products in Korea

Did Recent Tobacco Reforms Change the Cigarette Market?

The Australian tobacco market is very tightly regulated. Australian governments, like many others, have a long history of enacting various forms of control, including restricting advertising and imposing taxes. Using Australian government data, we investigate the effects of controls on cigarette market characteristics coinciding with Australia's introduction of plain packaging in 2012 (arguably the most innovative form of tobacco control in many years) as well as a subsequent tax increase. Using these data, we find no evidence to suggest that prices and market shares, key market characteristics, changed as a result of plain packaging. Moreover, using a second data set, we find that the introduction of plain packaging had no discernible effect on smoking rates. This finding is not surprising as both domestic and international research shows that government attempts to discourage new consumers, and encourage current consumers to quit, have not been very successful.

Making the Case for Canada to Join the Tobacco Plain Packaging Revolution

This article makes the case for introducing plain packaging reforms in Canada. Australia successfully introduced these measure in 2012, and other nations have adopted similar laws, in light of compelling evidence that plain packaging lessens the appeal of tobacco products, increases the effectiveness of health warnings and curbs the use of packaging to mislead consumers about the harmful effects of tobacco use. Tobacco industry arguments that plain packaging does not work, increases illicit trade, presents a slippery slope to over regulating other products, and hurts small business are unfounded. The proposed Canadian reforms open the door to improving on plain packaging legislation by increasing the restrictions on: acceptable brand names, the internal pack design and the appearance of the cigarette itself.

Re-analysing tobacco industry funded research on the effect of plain packaging on minors in Australia: Same data but different results.

INTRODUCTIONOur objective was to re-analyse the data used in an industry-funded working paper to study the effect of plain packaging on youth smoking prevalence in Australia, allowing for other tobacco control measures introduced over the period 2001-2013, and using a more appropriate method of analysis.METHODSMonthly smoking prevalence and sample sizes from repeat cross-sectional surveys were reconstructed from the working paper by reverse engineering of the industry-presented data, and analysed as a time series using logistic regression. Power analysis presented in the industry-funded working paper was re-calculated.RESULTSSmoking prevalence among minors in Australia declined from 11.6% to 5.6% over the 13-year period examined; an overall 52% relative reduction or an average annual reduction of 5.5% (95% confidence interval 4.6% to 6.4%). There was a 12.1% (-4.8% to 26.2%) relative reduction in smoking prevalence when plain packaging was introduced, though the reduction was not statistically significant. Re-calculated power values were much lower than those reported in the industry-funded paper, confirming the inconclusiveness of its findings, as pointed out in previous critiques.CONCLUSIONSOur findings suggest a decline of smoking prevalence in minors following the introduction of plain packaging in Australia. They differ substantially from those presented in an industry-funded study on the effects of plain packaging on smoking prevalence in minors in Australia, which used the same data.

Policy options for extending standardized tobacco packaging.

Smoking is a public health problem that will cause 1 billion deaths in the 21st century, if current smoking patterns persist. (1) Tobacco companies' aggressive marketing has fostered tobacco use by creating brands and linking these to attributes and identities that users and susceptible non-users value. Although many countries now restrict traditional marketing media, tobacco companies have developed increasingly creative strategies to encourage experimentation with tobacco among non-users and deter quitting among users. Packaging has provided an important and until recently, largely unregulated, conduit for these marketing messages and has communicated appealing imagery to young people while using known and familiar brand symbols to reassure existing tobacco users. The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) (2) obliges Parties to address tobacco packaging. Implementation guidelines for Articles II (3) and 13 (4) include consideration of plain packaging and recognize the myriad ways in which tobacco companies have used packaging to promote tobacco use. In response, Australia, France, Georgia, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have either introduced or will soon be introducing standardized or plain packaging. Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Thailand have already passed legislation to introduce plain packaging, and several other countries (including Belgium, Canada, Chile, Singapore and Sri Lanka, among others) are formally considering this policy. Plain packaging replaces the attractive brand livery displayed on tobacco packs with an aversive colour and standardized text, and is typically combined with larger pictorial warning labels, if these are not already in place. The policy recognizes that on-pack brand imagery has positioned tobacco use as an aspirational behaviour and fostered uptake among young people, (5) transforming tobacco packages from attractive display items to highly unappealing articles. Evidence from Australia shows standardized packaging and larger pictorial warning labels have reduced smokings appeal among young people, (6) increased demand for cessation support and decreased smoking prevalence. (8) Evaluations confirm predictions from experimental and other studies used to support the introduction of this policy. (8) Despite the intuitive logic of using packaging to deter rather than facilitate experimentation with tobacco products, other countries have been cautious in following Australia's approach. The time taken for plain packaging to be more widely adopted and implemented in other countries has caused some frustration among public health researchers and advocates. Nevertheless, this time lag has also provided an opportunity to examine how tobacco companies have reacted to Australia's new policy environment, and to consider whether and where Australian legislation could be extended. We suggest that countries planning to introduce standardized packaging have an opportunity to innovate in at least four ways: (i) restricting or banning brand variant names; (ii) developing larger and more salient onpack warnings; (iii) requiring tobacco products themselves to use dissuasive colours; and (iv) using packaging to create cessation portals that direct tobacco users to quit support. First, the introduction of standardized packaging in Australia saw a rapid increase in brand variant names (or descriptors) such as Marlboro Silver Fine Scent, Winfield Optimum Crush Sky and Peter Stuyvesant New York Blend. (9) These variant names attempt to recreate connotations formerly aroused by visual brand imagery and aim to reassure smokers, deter quitting and potentially attract new users. Recent work suggests the more descriptors used, the more attractive a pack appears. (10) Variants potentially mislead users by linking tobacco to appealing attributes or by minimizing the harm caused by tobacco use and serve no purpose other than to create marketing appeals. …

Smoke signals: The decline of brand identity predicts reduced smoking behaviour following the introduction of plain packaging

This study tests a social identity based mechanism for the effectiveness of plain tobacco packaging legislation, introduced in Australia in December 2012, to reduce cigarette smoking. 178 Australian smokers rated their sense of identification with fellow smokers of their brand, positive brand stereotypes, quitting behaviours and intentions, and smoking intensity, both before and seven months after the policy change. Mediation analyses showed that smokers, especially those who initially identified strongly with their brand, experienced a significant decrease in their brand identity following the introduction of plain packaging and this was associated with lower smoking behaviours and increased intentions to quit. The findings provide the first quantitative evidence that brand identities may help maintain smoking behaviour, and suggest the role of social-psychological processes in the effectiveness of public health policy.

PA04.01 A Realistic Goal? Achieving a Tobacco Free Ireland by 2025

Ireland has a proud record of leadership in the field of tobacco control. It was the first country in the world to introduce a Workplace Smoking Ban in 2013 and the first country in Europe to announce its intention to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes. In 2013 Ireland set a target date to achieve a tobacco free society with a targeted adult tobacco use prevalence of under 5%. Other countries to formally adopt a target for tobacco free societies include Finland 2040, New Zealand 2025, and Scotland 2034. Tobacco Free Ireland1 is a new tobacco policy for Ireland coming more than a decade after the publication of the previous national policy Towards a Tobacco Free Society.2 It is a timely successor because of the emerging non-communicable disease burden which is caused by risk factors that can be prevented. Tobacco is well known as a major contributor to ill-health and premature mortality. It is responsible for more than a third of all cancers. For the first time, we have a target date for Ireland to be tobacco free of 2025. The question is whether this target is in any way realistic. Tobacco Free Ireland addresses a range of tobacco control issues and initiatives and contains over 60 recommendations. A high level action plan, was drawn up in consultation with those who will lead out on the recommendations which outlines the responsibilities, actions necessary and timelines for the implementation of the recommendations. The recommendations to support Ireland becoming a tobacco free Society are categorized under:•Protection of children and denormalization of tobacco use•Legislative compliance and regulating the retail environment•Protect people from tobacco use•Offer help to quit tobacco use•Warn about the dangers of tobacco•Enforcement of bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship•Raising taxation on tobacco products•National and International Partnerships For the first time in policy we see a commitment to substantially address supply side issues through introduction of levies such as an environmental waste levy and an industry profitability levy ring fencing income to address health promotion, cessation supports and illegal trade initiatives. The document fails to substantially address the inequality inherent in smoking patterns. In Ireland the bottom decile, at 35% prevalence, is more than twice as likely to smoke as the top decile at 16%. Specific deprived population targeted programs such as the Irish Cancer Societies ‘We Can Quit’ program, which challenges intergenerational smoking, have been successful and need to be funded and enhanced if a Tobacco Free Society is to be achieved. Current adult smoking rates of 19.5%3 suggest Ireland has some significant way to go towards achieving its target. Recent youth smoking rates of 13%4 for 15-17 year olds and 8%5 for 10-17 year olds suggests significant progress in reducing the uptake of smoking. Major investment is required to support increased quit attempts and increased success from quit attempts if the target of a Tobacco Free Ireland by 2025 is to be achieved.

Advancing Global Public Health Standards: A Precarious Balance Five Pivotal WTO Cases

This paper examines five World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes and their related settlements to explore the primacy of public health concerns in trade-related matters. It asks first, whether the WTO successfully manages the interface between trade-related questions and global public health concerns? Second, we explore if the WTO decisions reflect strong and effective public health standards? The five cases considered include the French asbestos ban, the EU and US’ restriction of world access to generic drugs, the US-Indonesia dispute related to clove cigarettes, the US-EU disagreement over hormones in beef and Thailand’s attempts to introduce plain packaging for alcohol products.This paper concludes that, despite moments of hope that the WTO might be more than just a trade organisation, the WTO’s major focus is trade, with public health occupying a very small role in its decision making in judicial culture. Even when a world consensus exists among scientific and policy experts that a product is detrimental to human well-being, member states’ trade interests are given greater weight than the immediate need to protect citizens’ health and raise global health standards – access to generic drugs, protection against carcinogenic material such as asbestos and restriction on cigarette packaging. WTO decisions appear to be made in a legal black hole without linkage to human rights legal protection of the individual and the collective. Because the WTO jurisprudence is decided on the case by case basis, frequently the decisions of WTO panels while technically correct they fail to have a larger view of global public health issues. The paper concludes that the WTO is in need of rebalancing its trade vs. health foci, and of heightening the importance placed on public health, in order to address the needs of a 21st-century world and to gain global citizens’ trust. Against a weak trade vs global health regulatory regime, the paper illustrates how compliance with WTO decisions in the area of global public health leaves a great deal of room for foot dragging by governments which emboldens big Pharma and other global actors to use the WTO’s commercial norms to armour plate themselves against progressive change. Hence progress towards strengthening global health standards is unlikely to come from the WTO’s current culture of jurisprudence.

El envase neutro de los productos de tabaco: una nueva estrategia para el control del tabaquismo

There is evidence that global tobacco smoking control policies contribute to decrease the prevalence of smoking among populations, so there is a need to effectively implement different measures in a coordinated way. The plain packaging and labelling of tobacco products is one of the measures proposed by the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. At the moment, leading countries are implementing this tobacco control measure, which involves a plain packaging for all tobacco products, i.e., the absence of any promotional or communication tool in the packaging, except the name of the brand, appearing with a standardised font, size, colour and placing in the pack. Australia was the first country to implement this measure in 2012 and recently other countries are legislating and approving it. In Spain, tobacco legislation (2005 and 2010), was an important advance in tobacco control policies. The introduction of plain packaging in Spain would mean the next step in the development of a global strategy for fighting this significant health problem. The aim of this article is to synthesise in a structured manner the role that the packaging of tobacco products has within marketing and communication strategies, as well as to describe the potential effects that the plain packaging has on some aspects of smoking behaviour, according to current literature.

The Australian experience following plain packaging: the impact on tobacco branding.

Brands are critical to tobacco marketing. Industry stakeholders predicted that plain packaging, by removing key tangible branding dimensions, would restrict new products and brand differentiation. However, manufacturers respond innovatively to limit regulatory impact. This study investigates brand strategy following plain packaging's introduction to Australia. Brand portfolios were determined using 2006-15 tobacco ingredient reports. These detail the brand and variant names sold and are provided annually as part of a voluntary agreement between the Australian Government and leading manufacturers. Post-plain packaging brand ranges were verified using retail price lists and a supermarket retail audit using a method used previously to verify a period of pre-plain packaging data. The verification process identified some data inaccuracies from one manufacturer which resulted in the issuing of corrected data. After plain packaging the leading manufacturers continued with extensive brand ranges differentiated by price. All launched new products. While total brand numbers fell from 29 to 24, the mean number of variants for the leading 12 brands grew from 8.9 to 9.7. Substantial variant name modifications occurred with 50 new or modified names in 2012-13. Among leading brands, the incidence of variant colour names increased from 49.5 to 79.3%. New brands and variants were not inhibited by the introduction of plain packaging in Australia. After plain packaging, leading brand variant numbers expanded by 9 to 116 and colour variant names increased by 73.6% and became the norm-lighter colours (blue, gold and silver) dominated, perpetuating notions of less harmful cigarettes. [Correction added on 09 September 2016, after first online publication: The figures in the last sentence of the Abstract are now corrected from 'expanded by 116' to 'expanded by 9 to 116'.].

Young Adult Perceptions of the British American Tobacco New Zealand Agree/Disagree Plain Packaging Counter-Campaign.

In 2012, British American Tobacco New Zealand (BATNZ) launched a mass media campaign branded "Agree/ Disagree" as a response to the New Zealand government's plans to introduce plain packaging. We examined young adult's views about the campaign to assist tobacco control policymakers in planning future interventions. Interviews with young adults living in the Auckland area were conducted. Interviews covered existing knowledge about plain packaging of tobacco, knowledge about the tobacco industry, and perceptions of specific advertisements included in the campaign. Interview data were analyzed to determine the dominant views about the campaign. Perspectives from 12 interviews reflect the dominant discourse in New Zealand on the benefits of serving economic progress and international trade. Pervasive views about the campaigns reflected perceptions of the risk to the New Zealand image, trade, and economy. Similarly, participants expressed concern about the potential for plain packaging to creep toward other products, such as alcohol. Perceptions of the tobacco industry were mixed but reflect a tolerant view of the ethics of business if viewed to be beneficial to the economy. Participants were broadly accepting of the campaign messages. We identified a tendency toward quasi-libertarian leanings when discussing economics and trade, commercial versus personal responsibility, and the value of freedom (commercial and social). These perspectives were often held simultaneously with conflicting socially responsive values and references to the hegemonic position of "big business." This study affirms the importance of closely monitoring public opinion about tobacco control and of broadening denormalization strategies to reflect the critical role the tobacco industry plays in prolonging the tobacco epidemic. To date there is little evidence on the perceptions young adults hold toward to the tobacco industry and their arguments regarding the introduction of plain packaged cigarettes. Our findings indicate that some young people are attuned to the social discourse regarding the importance of economics, individuality, choice, and freedom as expressed by the tobacco industry. Tobacco control initiatives could challenge core values such as fairness and justice as related to corporate behaviors to retain public support, particularly among young people.

Tobacco manufacturer brand strategy following plain packaging in Australia: implications for social responsibility and policy

Purpose This paper aims to inform social responsibility and social policy by describing the brand strategy of Australia’s largest tobacco manufacturer, British American Tobacco Australia (BATA), the year following the introduction of plain packaging and other regulation. Tobacco controls are a proven catalyst for reducing smoking, but manufacturers adapt swiftly seeking to minimise the impact of regulatory change. Design/methodology/approach BATA’s strategy was determined using 2012-2014 tobacco ingredient reports, recommended retail price lists and a supermarket retail audit. Findings The research identified over 70 BATA brand variants, offered in diverse packaging options, with new products and modified names appearing since 2012. In total 14 main brands are highly differentiated by price, with 45 per cent difference between the cheapest and the most expensive. Volume discounting occurs across packaging ranges, with twin packs offering best value and prices up to 10 per cent lower than those of single packs. Originality/value The research originality stems from the triangulation of three different data resources to establish brand strategy following increased regulation. The study confirms ongoing market segmentation using highly differentiated ranges, and it reveals the unintended consequences of corporate responses to regulation. Evolving variant names communicate product information and imagery previously imparted by pack design. Pricing strategies enable smokers to offset substantial excise increases through brand switching and volume buying. The research, therefore, reveals the potential for regulating these as yet unrestricted elements to enhance the impact of plain packaging and other tobacco controls, thereby further reducing the social impact of smoking.

How Brexit might affect public health

EU legislation covers everything from food labelling to disease control. Anne Gulland assesses the effects of leaving The United Kingdom already has some of the most stringent tobacco control policies...

Does the hand that controls the cigarette packet rule the smoker? Findings from ethnographic interviews with smokers in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA

Throughout the twentieth century, packaging was a carefully cultivated element of the appeal of the cigarette. However, the tobacco industry's control over cigarette packaging has been steadily eroded through legislation that aims to rebrand the packet from a desirable to a dangerous commodity—epitomized in Australia's introduction of plain packaging in 2012. Evident in both the enactment of cigarette packaging legislation and industry efforts to overturn it is the assumption that packets do things—i.e. that they have a critical role to play in either promoting or discouraging the habit. Drawing on 175 ethnographic interviews conducted with people smoking in public spaces in Vancouver, Canada; Canberra, Australia; Liverpool, England; and San Francisco, USA, we produce a ‘thick description’ of smokers' engagements with cigarette packets. We illustrate that despite the very different types of cigarette packaging legislation in place in the four countries, there are marked similarities in the ways smokers engage with their packets. In particular, they are not treated as a purely visual sign; instead, a primary means through which one's own cigarette packet is apprehended is by touch rather than by sight. Smokers perceive cigarette packets largely through the operations of their hands—through their ‘handiness’. Thus, our study findings problematize the assumption that how smokers engage with packets when asked to do so on a purely intellectual or aesthetic level reflects how they engage with packets as they are enfolded into their everyday lives.

Changes in use of types of tobacco products by pack sizes and price segments, prices paid and consumption following the introduction of plain packaging in Australia

ObjectivesTo describe changes among smokers in use of various types of tobacco products, reported prices paid and cigarette consumption following the standardisation of tobacco packaging in Australia.MethodsNational cross-sectional telephone surveys...

Has the introduction of plain packaging with larger graphic health warnings changed adolescents’ perceptions of cigarette packs and brands?

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of plain packaging of cigarettes with enhanced graphic health warnings on adolescents’ perceptions of pack image and perceived brand differences.MethodsCross-sectional school-based surveys conducted in 2011 (prior...