BBC News, 25
September 2014
Related
Stories
- Do smoking bans work?
- Does cigarette packaging make a difference?
- Smoking: what it does to the body Watch
The French
government has unveiled controversial new measures to cut the number of its
smokers, including introducing plain cigarette packaging.
The
proposals are specifically aimed at reducing the high rates of teenage smokers
in France.
Health
Minister Marisol Touraine plans to follow Australia's example, which introduced
similar measures in 2012.
Experts say
removing branding on packets and adding large health warnings reduced smoking
in Australia.
However,
some tobacco companies dispute the evidence for this and say France's plans are
incomprehensible.
Smoking is
the main cause of death in France, with more than 70,000 people dying each year
of tobacco-related illnesses.
The new
measures, which will come into effect once the law goes through the National
Assembly, also includes a ban on smoking in children's play areas in public
parks and in cars carrying children under 12.
In
addition, advertising of e-cigarettes will be restricted before being banned in
May 2016, except at the point of sale and in trade publications.
Ms Touraine
says there are 13 million smokers in France - which has a population of around
66 million - and the "number of smokers is growing, especially among young
people."
"We
can't accept that tobacco kills 73,000 people every year in our country - the
equivalent of a plane crash every day with 200 people on board," she
added.
The BBC's
Hugh Schofield in Paris says the move goes well beyond what France is required
to do under European anti-smoking rules.
'Completely
incomprehensible'
EU laws
already force tobacco firms to cover 65% of the packaging with health warnings,
but Ms Touraine said they would be "the same shape, same size, same
colour, same typeset" if the ban came into effect.
Celine
Audibert, a spokeswoman for French firm Seita, which is a subsidiary of
Imperial Tobacco, described the move as "completely incomprehensible".
"It's
based on the Australian experience which, more than a failure, was a complete
fiasco," added Ms Audibert.
In 2012,
Australia forced all cigarettes to be sold in identical brown packets, largely
covered with graphic health warnings.
Tobacco clearances,
an indicator of tobacco volumes in the Australian market, fell 3.4% in 2013
compared with 2012.
But
Australia also raised cigarette taxes that led to consumer prices increasing,
creating doubt over which move made the most difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment