Government urged to follow Australia in selling cigarettes in plain packages
Cigarettes and other tobacco products in Pakistan should be sold in plain packages, TheNetwork for Consumer Protection said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement read that a ruling in Australia’s highest court requiring tobacco products to be sold in plain packages sets “an example for Pakistan to follow”.
Australia’s plain packaging law, which was enacted last year and challenged in court by four tobacco companies, will save lives and stop tobacco companies from using their packs to make cigarettes appealing to kids, said the statement.
Pakistan’s government should follow suit, said the statement, as the country has the highest number of youth and poor people using tobacco products.
The organisation said that using plain packaging will make the pictorial warnings more effective. Removing colours from cigarette packs and misleading terms such as “smooth”, “gold” and “silver” would reduce false beliefs about the harmfulness of cigarettes.
“Adults and adolescents perceive cigarettes in plain packs to be less appealing, less palatable, less satisfying and of lower quality compared to cigarettes in current packaging,” TheNetwork said in its statement.
Cigarette packs sold in the country are currently required to have 40% of the area covered with a pictorial warning, which is much less than the TheNetwork’s recommended coverage area of at least 75% on the front of the pack.
As Pakistan’s tobacco control laws restrict mass media advertisement, the tobacco industries turn to shops, decorating them with promotional material. “The point of sale (POS) advertisement can be controlled by effectively enforcing the existing laws,” said TheNetwork Executive Coordinator Nadeem Iqbal.
The non-government organisation (NGO) monitors POS advertisement of tobacco industry in 10 major districts of Pakistan. Its initial findings revealed that 78% shops have tobacco advertising. Moreover, the NGO found 87% of the shops to have been illegally selling tobacco to children.
Pakistan is obliged under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to prohibit all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship that promote a tobacco product, said the statement.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2012.
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Actually the main reason cigarette sales are allowed at all in Pakistan is because the government is addicted to tax revenue generated by cigarette sales. Of course the cost of treating tobacco related illnesses is far greater than the tax revenue but since the govt. does not provide health services to most of the population it does not care.
Also the tobacco industry lobby no doubt has quite a few politicians in its pocket. So the government will not dare move against it.
@Complex:
Banning cigarettes would only take a significant amount away from the government which it currently collects as taxes. People like you need to think with an open mind - you can't just start banning things like that. Do you also support the PTA ban on those 1100 words in text messages too? Cause if you don't, I'm sorry you've got double standards and are one of the reasons there's no light at the end of the tunnel for this nation.
As for using plain boxes or covering 75% of the box with health warnings... I don't think that's going to work either, because most people never really end up looking at the box by purchasing loose cigarettes.
At the end of the day, people are causing harm to their own health by smoking - if they can't quit, too bad. One thing that actually needs to be done is the banning of smoking indoors - that's what actually harmful.
@ Complex: Ban won't work. With our porous border and corrupt society, smuggled ciggys would be flooding the streets in no time.
Just ban cigrt permanently. Oops our liberal girls & boys would start crying.
@The Truth: By taxing it, smuggling and bootlegging will spring up. Why not raid stores and khokhas which sell cigarettes to minors?
Here is a great idea, why not tax it and use that money to offset other expenses like fuel and food subsidies. This country and this government need to realize that they need to increase revenue. Reduce expenses, tax certain things, increase employment, grow the private sector, reduce the size of govt, this is the recipe for economic stability and prosperity.