Cigarette packaging to go plain in world first

Australian cigarette packaging is set to undergo world first changes, according to the Rudd government, with bright colours, slogans and logos being replaced with plain packaging.

Tomorrow the government will announce its new plan, aimed especially at Australia’s youth, to make smoking seem less attractive. Different types of packaging are currently being tested by the government to find which is the most unappealing. The Rudd Government's Preventative Health Taskforce along with the World Health Organisation both support the plain packaging. The mandatory packaging must be applied by tobacco companies to any loose-leaf tobacco and cigarette packaging by January 1, 2010. Through Governments regulation, packaging will still have health warnings but the only other features will be the product and brand names printed clearly in a standard colour position and font. The decision is expected to anger tobacco companies who argue that branding their products is a right they should be able to keep as cigarettes are not illegal. In opposition, Health experts say that health warnings will be strengthened and designs that suggest that a particular brand is less harmful will be prevented as a result of the removal of the colourful packaging. Other than the health warnings, brand and product names the only other markings will be product identification for the benefit of retailers and to reduce the risk of counterfeiting. The changes are aimed at cutting smoking rates to 10 per cent, and hopefully less, by 2018.