Australian High Court’s ruling bans companies’ brand designs, and logos on cigarette packs
Australia’s highest court on Wednesday upheld the world’s toughest law on cigarette promotion, meaning tobacco companies will be prohibited from displaying their logos on cigarette packs that will instead feature images of cancer—riddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children.
The High Court rejected a challenge by tobacco companies who argued the value of their trademarks will be destroyed if they are no longer able to display their distinctive colours, brand designs and logos on packs of cigarettes.
Starting in December, packs will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature dire health warnings and graphic photographs of smoking’s health effects. The government, which has urged other countries to adopt similar rules, hopes the new packs will make smoking as unglamorous as possible.
“Many other countries around the world ... will take heart from the success of this decision today,” Attorney General Nicola Roxon told reporters after the court ruling.
“Governments can take on big tobacco and win and it’s worth countries looking again at what the next appropriate step is for them,” she added.
British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International are worried that the law will set a global precedent that could slash billions of dollars from the values of their brands. They challenged the new rules on the grounds that they violate intellectual property rights and devalue their trademarks.
The cigarette makers argued that the government would unfairly benefit from the law by using cigarette packs as a platform to promote its own message, without compensating the tobacco companies. Australia’s constitution says the government can only acquire the property of others on “just terms.”
The reasons for the judgment will be released later this year.
Philip Morris said it would continue to pursue compensation through the terms of a bilateral investment treaty between Australia and Hong Kong.
“There is still a long way to go before all the legal questions about plain packaging are fully explored and answered,” company spokesman Chris Argent said in a statement.
“Plain packaging will simply provide counterfeiters with a road map,” spokeswoman Sonia Stewart said in a statement. “The legislation will make the counterfeiters’ job both cheaper and easier by mandating exactly how a pack must look.”
Australia’s Health Minister Tanya Plibersek dismissed those claims, saying there are still measures to prevent counterfeiting, such as the use of alphanumeric codes on legitimate cigarette packs.
Australia faces a potential challenge to its laws through the World Trade Organization, with three tobacco growing countries Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic making official requests for consultation on plain packaging. Consultations are the first stage of the WTO’s dispute resolution process.
Tobacco advertising was banned from Australian television and radio in 1976. Restrictions on advertising have tightened over the years to include print ads, the Internet and retail outlets.
Smokers account for 17 percent of Australia’s population, compared with around 20 percent of American adults. With high taxes aimed at dissuading smokers, a pack of 25 cigarettes retails in Australia for about 16 Australian dollars.
Excellent strategy to minimize smoking habit in people. It should be implemented elsewhere in other countries where you see a rise in number of youth smokers because of the flashy advertisements. It should be implemented in Indonesia first which suffers from high rate of addiction in children as young as 2 yrs, 5 yrs and so on, where the parents feel its okay for their children to smoke. Atleast with such graphics they will get an inkling of the damage that can be caused which will prevent them from continuing. Last but not the least it should be started in India and that too not in particular states. It should be a nationwide move.
I don't think the Australian Government has done anything great. Infact they have started a bad trend of infringement on trademark teriitory which will have far reaching ramifications.
If the Australian Govt had the will, as it claims to have, why did they not ban tobacco ? The Australian Govt has the power to declare consumption of Alochol and Tobacco ( both seemingly harmful). Not doing that but taking devious routes is not a great deed for a first world government.
it is a very good move taken by the govt. it may help several families and their smoker members to get rid of it.every day many die due to lung cancer or other cancer associated with it leaving their families all alone.
Nearly 50 y ago, some friends of mine gave the following demonstration of the possible harmful effects cigarette smoke. Inhale the smoke, and then blow out through a piece of tissue paper. You will find a brown deposit of tar on the paper. That is the stuff you are taking into your lungs. But this dramatic demonstration did not stop any of us, all scientists, from smoking. I gave up smoking only some 30 y ago. Similarly, all these grisly, gruesome pictures on cigarettes will at best have a transient effect, lasting perhaps a week. After that, no smoker will even notice the picture. "It will not happen to me," everyone will think even during the initial period of shock. The only way to deal with the tobacco hazard is to ban all tobacco products for human "consumption", and put tobacco cultivation under regulations and law similar to those for opium poppy -- that is, if there is some use for tobacco other than for smoking, chewing, sniffing, etc.
An excellent Decision... India & other countries should follow it.
There is no gain if Health is lost. Money can be made in many ways.
Government should think of their people health before money.
A very brave and pertinent step in reducing the number of smokers.
Other countries should follow the suit. Australia has set a very
good example and we must emulate them.
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