FRANCE TO MANDATE PLAIN PACKAGING OF CIGARETTES

September 26, 2014
NACS Online
Country is latest member of EU to implement anti-smoking strategy.
​PARIS – France plans to mandate plain packaging of cigarettes as part of an effort to reduce one of the highest rates of smoking among major European countries. The plain packaging rule will be enforced as part of a law to be presented in coming months, France Health Minister Marisol Touraine said earlier this week.
With this new rule, France joins its EU partners the United Kingdom and Ireland in moving toward banning distinctive and enticing tobacco packaging. With 31% of adults smoking daily, France has the third-highest rate of smoking in Western Europe behind Greece and Austria, according to the World Health Organization.
According to Touraine’s announcement, the plain packaging rule is just “one measure among others to efficiently fight the industry’s marketing.”
The law, which does not yet have a timetable for implementation, will allow for cigarette brand names to be stated on the packaging using standardized “neutral’’ lettering.
Following the announcement, Imperial Tobacco said that it is considering legal action against the new restrictions, adding that packaging bans don’t work. Parties on both sides of the issue use the example of Australia, where standardized packaging was introduced in December 2012. After a year and a half of plain packaging there, both sides of the argument claim victory, with tobacco firms pointing to an increase in illicit tobacco sales while anti-smoking groups point to a drop in smoking rates as a direct result of plain packaging.