LONDON -- In what could spark similar thinking in the United States, and just as cigarettes are being removed from view in several provinces in Canada, Britain's Department of Health has released proposals that would ban cigarette companies from putting any kind of logo or branding onto their cigarette packets.
The proposals are in a consultation paper entitled The Future of Tobacco Control that is being issued by the Department of Health to trigger a 12-week national debate.
According to a Canadian Press report, cigarette manufacturers would have to sell cigarettes in plain black-and-white [image-nocss] boxes with nothing but health warnings written on them.
The paper also suggests restricting the display of tobacco products in shops, possibly by requiring they are placed under the counter, banning cigarette vending machines and stopping the sale of cheaper packs of 10 cigarettes instead of the usual 20. Further, it suggests banning advertising of rolling papers and other smoking paraphernalia.
A spokesperson told The Guardian that the government is definite about wanting to restrict the display of tobacco products and limit access to vending machines. But ministers are more open-minded about the other ideas. She said the proposals were targeted mainly at young people, who were considered to be more susceptible to brand advertising.
Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, said: "Protecting children from smoking is a government priority and taking away temptation is one way to do this. If banning brightly colored packets, removing cigarettes from display and removing the cheap option of a pack of 10 helps save lives, then that is what we should do—but we want to hear everyone's views first."
A ban on logos probably would be "unworkable,'" wrote Jonathan Fell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, in a note to investors cited in a separate Bloomberg report. Forbidding vending machines and the other proposals would not probably be a "serious" threat to the industry, he wrote.
Concerning a display ban, the Tobacco Alliance, which represents more than 16,000 independent U.K. retailers, said: "Seeing tobacco on display in shops is not a significant cause of youth smoking and banning it will not solve the problem" A poll for the alliance found 94% of people believed the main reason under-18s started smoking was because friends and family smoked, and because teenagers regarded it as an act of rebellion, said the report.
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, told the newspaper: "Banning point-of-sale display will make smoking even more attractive to teenagers. Worse, it will drive many smokers towards cheaper counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes."Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.