New Zealand Announces Plan for Plain Tobacco Packaging

Tobacco companies have already indicated that they will fight the measure.

February 21, 2013

WELLINGTON - The New Zealand government is moving forward with plans to make plain packaging the standard for tobacco products, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Tariana Turia, associate health minister, said this week that the government would start the policy work now, but hold off on implementation until the World Trade Organization rules on the case of Australia€™s plain packaging. The government is also bracing for any legal challenges to such a regulation.

Turia said the plain packaging changes would likely be ready in late 2014. "We know that we've got trade obligations and we take them seriously," said Turia. "But we are confident that plain packaging can be introduced consistently with those obligations."

Tobacco companies have indicated they will fight such measures. "While we can't rule out legal action at this stage, we can say that we will fully participate in the legislative process," said Steve Rush, British American Tobacco€™s New Zealand general manager.

Meanwhile, Philip Morris International Inc. released a statement this week in response to New Zealand€™s plain packaging plan, which is similar to Australia€™s, that said there is "no credible evidence that standardized packaging" reduces smoking, the Dow Jones Newswire reports. Philip Morris pointed out that there is "strong evidence that it will jeopardize jobs, benefit the black market for cigarettes, and is a breach of international trade rules."

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