Plain Packaging Will Hurt Retailers

CCSA President Satinder Chera says it’s time to slow down the runaway train of plain packaging legislation in Canada.

October 02, 2017

ONTARIO, Canada – Satinder Chera, president of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association, wrote in the Huffington Post (Canada) that as legislation calling for plain packaging on tobacco products moves through the legislative process, it could “bring to light two important pieces of evidence” that will impact how lawmakers decide to proceed.

First, Chera points to the results of a CCSA survey of convenience store retailers. When asked if they believed the proposed legislation would affect their business, an overwhelming majority say it will have a negative impact on the security of their stores, force staff to work longer hours and damage the customer experience by slowing down transactions. “The main thing to be learned is that changing the way that tobacco is packaged will have a significant impact on the people who sell it,” he said.

“For the sake of context, understand that the retailers answering the survey are also the people with easily the most experience in how tobacco packaging and placement affects the retail experience. They have been on the front lines of the fight to reduce underage smoking and work hard every day to make sure tobacco products don't end up in kids' hands,” wrote Chera.

Chera also pointed to Australia, where plain packaging has not helped reduce the smoking rate. He notes that in 2012, Australia introduced plain packaging legislation very similar to what is being proposed in Canada. Per the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), a recent study found that “in the four years immediately following implementation of the new rules (2013-2016), the downward trend in smoking rates actually stalled for the first time in 20 years,” wrote Chera. “As pertains to youth, smoking rates in Australia had actually gone up prior to 2013, and between 2013 and 2016, they simply returned to the previous downward trend. Overall, there was no statistically significant decline in smoking that could be attributed to plain packaging.”

While the Canadian government weighs plain packaging, “perhaps it is time for the federal government to slow down the runaway train … until all the benefits and impacts have been identified and studied,” Chera said.

“[T]he only sure thing about plain packaging right now is that it will be a pain for retailers, a pain for their employees, and a pain for consumers.”

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