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Tobacco plain packaging catching on worldwide: Canadian Cancer Society report

Nov 9th, 2016
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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tobacco-plain-packaging-catching-on-worldwide-canadian-cancer-society-report-2016-11-09

The trend to reduce smoking and cancer rates by forcing tobacco companies to use plain packaging is gaining momentum across the globe, concludes an international report released today by the Canadian Cancer Society. The report shows that 4 countries have plain packaging laws in place and 14 others are working on it.

Plain packaging requirements prevent tobacco companies from using colours, logos and design elements to market their cancer-causing products. The shape of the package must be in a standardized format, outlawing sales tactics such as slim packs appealing to girls and young women. Health warnings still appear on plain packages.

“Plain packaging is a global trend and it is coming to Canada, too,” says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst, Canadian Cancer Society. “We must continue to show leadership in the fight against the marketing of tobacco.”

In 2001 Canada was the first country in the world to implement graphic picture warnings on cigarette packages. Since then, more than 100 countries and territories (105 in total) have followed Canada’s lead – accounting for 58% of the world’s population – as illustrated in this graph. Canada’s leadership in graphic picture warnings has resulted in enormous health benefits globally.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in Canada, including about 30% of all cancer deaths and 85% of lung cancer cases. Tobacco kills 37,000 Canadians every year.

Tobacco packaging is one of the last and most effective ways for companies to promote their products, with eye-catching logos and colours designed to appeal to consumers. Plain packaging reduces tobacco use by eliminating promotion on packaging, reducing product appeal, curbing package deception, and increasing the impact of health warnings. Research shows that plain packaging works.

“Plain packaging is a crucial next step for Canada to reduce smoking and save lives,” says Cunningham. “We strongly support the federal government’s commitment to follow the lead of Australia and other countries to implement plain packaging to curtail the marketing of these cancer-causing products.”

Plain packaging is required in Australia, the United Kingdom and France, and will be by 2018 in Hungary. The 14 countries working on plain packaging are Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia, Uruguay, Thailand, Singapore, Belgium, Romania, Turkey, Finland, Chile and South Africa.

Canada’s federal government included a commitment to plain packaging as part of its 2015 election platform. After forming a government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau identified it as a “top priority” in a mandate letter to Health Minister Jane Philpott. On May 31, 2016 – World No Tobacco Day – Minister Philpott launched a 3-month public consultation on plain packaging. The federal government is now reviewing the responses and developing regulations.

The Canadian Cancer Society report released today – Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report – ranks 205 countries and territories based on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages and lists countries that have finalized requirements for picture warnings. Canada ties for 8th in the world with package warnings that cover 75% of the package’s front and back. Nepal and Vanuatu are tied for top spot with a warning size of 90%, while India and Thailand are 3rd at 85%. The United States is in last place with minimal requirements for health warnings on either the front or back of the package.

The Canadian Cancer Society is calling for plain packaging to be implemented in Canada as part of a strengthened Federal Tobacco Control Strategy, which should also include increased funding to support additional programming and policy measures. Health Canada’s current strategy expires on March 31, 2018. The existing Tobacco Act is 2 decades old and must be modernized.

The Society’s report, published every 2 years, reviews and ranks cigarette health warnings internationally and tracks developments in this important area of tobacco control.

Other report highlights include:

94 countries and territories require warnings to cover at least 50% of the package front and back (on average), up from 60 countries in 2014 and 24 in 2008. — The top countries ranked in terms of warning size (as an average of the front and back of the package) are: 1. 90% Nepal 1. 90% Vanuatu (effective in 2017)

3. 85% Thailand 3. 85% India 5. 82.5% Australia (75% of front, 90% of back) 6. 80% Sri Lanka 6. 80% Uruguay 8. 75% Brunei 8. 75% Canada 8. 75% Laos 8. 75% Myanmar
The Canadian Cancer Society’s report was released today in Delhi, India, at the 7th session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control being held Nov. 7-12. The report was released to support implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ratified by 180 countries. The goal of this international treaty is to control the global tobacco epidemic. Its guidelines recommend that parties consider implementing plain packaging.

Cigarette Package Health Warnings report in English Cigarette Package Health Warnings report in French

About the Canadian Cancer SocietyThe Society is a national, community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is to eradicate cancer and enhance the quality of life of people living with cancer. Thanks to our donors and volunteers, the Society has the most impact, against the most cancers, in the most communities in Canada. For more information, visit cancer.ca or call our toll-free bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1-888-939-3333 (TTY 1-866-786-3934).

SOURCE Canadian Cancer Society (National Office)

Global demand for cigarette graphic warnings grows

Nov 9th, 2016
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http://www.fctc.org/fca-news/opinion-pieces/1476-demand-for-global-cigarette-graphic-warnings-grow

Over 100 countries and territories now require cigarette picture health warnings, marking a significant milestone in global public health that will reduce smoking and save lives.

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) has released a report ranking 205 countries and territories on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages, and listing countries and territories that require graphic picture warnings.

The report shows significant global momentum toward plain packaging, with four countries requiring plain packs and 14 working on the measure.

“There is a powerful, worldwide trend for countries to use graphic pictures on cigarette packages to show the devastating health effects of smoking, and to require plain packaging,” says CCS’s senior policy analyst Rob Cunningham.

Examples of graphic picture warnings include a diseased lung or mouth, a patient with lung cancer in a hospital bed and a child being exposed to secondhand smoke. The report also reveals that many countries have increased the size of picture warnings on cigarette packages – and these larger pictures are known to be more effective.

Cigarette package warnings are a highly cost-effective way to increase awareness of the negative health effects of smoking and to reduce tobacco use. Picture-based warnings convey a more powerful message than a text-only warning, and larger ones increase impact.

Other report highlights include:

  • 105 countries and territories have finalized picture warning requirements, an increase from the 77 that had implemented these requirements by the end of 2014. In 2001, Canada was the first country to require picture warnings and to require a 50 percent size.
  • 58 percent of the world’s population is covered by the 105 countries and territories that have finalized picture warning requirements.
  • Nepal has the largest warnings in the world with picture warnings covering 90 percent of the package front and back. Vanuatu will also require 90 percent picture warnings in 2017. India and Thailand have the next largest warnings at 85 percent of the front and back.
  • 94 countries and territories require warnings to cover at least 50 percent of the package front and back (on average), up from 60 countries in 2014 and 24 in 2008.
  • Implementation by most European Union (EU) countries of the new EU requirement for 65 percent picture warnings was an important development contributing to the increase since 2014 in the number of countries requiring picture warnings.

– See more at: http://www.fctc.org/fca-news/opinion-pieces/1476-demand-for-global-cigarette-graphic-warnings-grow#sthash.luIWNxze.dpuf

With mixed progress, nations review war vs. tobacco industry

Nov 7th, 2016
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http://elkodaily.com/business/with-mixed-progress-nations-review-war-vs-tobacco-industry/article_be11c60f-d418-562d-83ab-d5dcf0a5c0c1.html

In Nepal, health warnings cover 90 percent of cigarette packs, while Australia requires those packets be wrapped in drab, plain paper. Indonesia’s new ban on outdoor advertising brought down tobacco billboards depicting smiling, smoking youths. And India wants scary photos of rotting lungs and mouth tumors covering packets sold in the country.

Still, national drives to discourage smoking and cut back tobacco sales haven’t done enough, campaigners say. Smoking-related deaths are still rising worldwide, with 80 percent of them expected to occur in developing country populations by 2030.

“Most people in the United States think tobacco is over and done with, but it’s still the largest preventable cause of disease on the planet” killing 6 million people a year — or one person every six seconds, said John Stewart, deputy campaigns director at the Boston-based lobbying group Corporate Accountability International.

Starting Monday, representatives from at least 178 countries are meeting for five days in the Indian capital to discuss how they can further the fight against smoking and push back against tobacco company lobbyists.

Since they set down stiff regulations and guidelines in a landmark 2003 treaty called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control — the first and only global treaty dealing with public health — most of the 180 signatories have ratified it and passed laws restricting tobacco advertising or sales.

Still, many governments remain entangled with powerful tobacco companies, while industry lobbyists continue attempts to stymie efforts to implement anti-smoking laws through bribery, misinformation and even suing national governments for lost profits, campaigners say.

“The tobacco industry is definitely feeling the heat,” Stewart said. “They’ve got their back against the wall.”

Indian courts are currently grappling with 62 lawsuits filed by tobacco companies or cigarette makers challenging laws requiring that 85 percent of all cigarette packets be covered with photos of medical horrors.

In Japan, a 10-percent hike in taxes on cigarettes has led to a 30-percent decline in smoking. But the country still has some of the lowest tax rates on cigarettes among industrialized nations, while its finance ministry owns 33 percent in Japan Tobacco.

The anti-tobacco campaign has had some success. It is widely accepted, at least among national leaders, that smoking causes cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, along with a host of other harmful health impacts.

That awareness still has not trickled down to national populations, though. And campaigners say tobacco interests have shifted their focus to poorer, less educated populations in the developing world.

India — among the first to ratify the anti-tobacco treaty in 2004 — is still considered one of the biggest battlegrounds in the fight against the tobacco industry, public health specialists say.

Despite harsh laws passed more than a decade ago banning smoking in public and sales to children, smoking is still common across the country. A government survey in 2010 showed nearly 35 percent of adults were either smoking or chewing tobacco.

Meanwhile, more than 1 million Indians die each year from tobacco-related diseases that cost the country some $16 billion annually, according to the World Health Organization.

“The revenues that the government earns from tobacco taxes are far less than the billions that are spent on health care,” said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay of the Voluntary Health Association of India, a public health organization.

“Public health and the health of the tobacco industry cannot go hand in hand,” she said, noting that campaigners are now pushing for countries to make tobacco companies and their shareholders civilly and criminally liable for the harm done by tobacco.

Part of the trouble in India is “the Indian consumer is spoilt for choice,” she said, with cigarettes sold alongside chewing tobacco and cheap, hand-rolled smokes known as bidis.

The easy availability and wide choice means many smokers get hooked at a young age. Some are initiated early through the common, cultural practice of chewing something called gutka, which combines tobacco with spices, lime and betel nut and is widely sold as a mouth freshener.

Putting pictorial warnings on cigarette packets is an attempt to educate people about the risks.

“The idea was that even an illiterate person, or a child, would understand the message about the health risks from smoking,” said Monika Arora of the Public Health Foundation of India, who runs an anti-smoking campaign aimed at young Indians.

Romania’s President promulgates new law on tobacco products

Nov 4th, 2016
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http://www.romania-insider.com/romanias-president-promulgates-new-law-tobacco-products/

The tobacco law, which sets out the conditions for the manufacturing, presentation, and sale of tobacco products according to a European directive, was promulgated by President Klaus Iohannis on November 3.

According to the new law, the warning pictures need to cover 65% of the package’s surface.

The flavored cigarettes will be banned 30 days after the law is published in the Official Gazette. The menthol cigarettes can be sold until 2019, but the ones with a click will disappear from the market.

The European directive should have been applied starting May 20. It was approved two years ago, but it hasn’t been transposed into the national law.

The European Commission had already started the sanctioning procedures against Romania. However, the local tobacco producers asked for more time to prepare for the changes brought by this new law.

editor@romania-insider.com

Graphic Pics on Cigarette Packs are Effective — But When in US?

Nov 4th, 2016
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The Tobacco Control Atlas: ASEAN Region

Nov 1st, 2016
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Tobacco packaging and labelling policies in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific Regions

Nov 1st, 2016
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Heat Increased on Cigarette Companies

Oct 21st, 2016
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http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31113/heat-increased-on-cigarette-companies/

After a sub-decree in July warning all companies producing, distributing and selling cigarettes to comply with requirements to display graphic anti-smoking images on all packets sold in the Kingdom and cease promotion of their products, it appears many have ignored the directive.

According to a warning letter from the Ministry of Health (MoH) sent this month, those found in violation of the sub-decree will face legal action.

“Tobacco companies continue to violate the law such as: ladies advertising tobacco in restaurants; display of branded parasols; in-pack competitions including the rewarding of cash to smokers, free cigarettes, lucky draws [for gifts] besides tobacco products; displaying tobacco products on the sides of vehicles; and the display of tobacco packets violating the measurement requirements concerning the public display of tobacco,” secretary of state Ung Phinrun says in the letter.

“Some tobacco companies have never printed the warning stickers to stick on the tobacco packets,” he added, without naming any companies the ministry had found in breach of the sub-decree.

The July sub-decree followed pan-Asean efforts to reduce smoking in the region and increase education about its harmful effects. All 10 countries have now created requirements to display images of health conditions directly linked to smoking.

Cambodia has two images that companies must choose from, a lung cancer patient or a baby harmed by second-hand smoke.

At the time, the Ministry of Health said it would fine manufacturers and importers $1,000 and wholesalers about $500 if they were found to be violating the sub-decree. The ministry has not announced if any fines have been issued.

Mom Kong, executive director of the Cambodia Movement for Health, said there is nothing new about these regulations for the multinational tobacco companies operating in Cambodia, as many countries now have such packaging requirements.

“These tobacco companies are multinational companies, meaning that they sell their products in different countries where such images are enforced following the implementation of such regulations such as in Singapore and Thailand. Why did they not follow the regulations here? You need to ask them yourself,” he said.

According to the July sub-decree, the tobacco companies are required to put the pictorial warning on 55 percent of each package and ban all kinds of advertisement including the use of young women to promote cigarettes in public as well as across all media.

This was to try and reduce the number of smokers in the country, said Mr. Kong, with the packet warnings having two clear benefits in this.

“First, it will help the smoker to decide for themselves whether they want to risk developing the disease as stated on the cigarette packet if they continue to smoke. Second, it will prevent the young generation from starting to smoke as the images are very clear,” he said.

Guillanme Dubois, the marketing manager of Huotraco International Limited (HIL), which distributes the Fine, Davidoff and Royale cigarette brands in Cambodia, said yesterday his company had followed all the government’s requirements and were almost completely in compliance.

“HIL has taken necessary measures to make the company’s products available in the market as instructed by MoH to all the tobacco industry in June,” he wrote by email.

“As of today, Huotraco’s products more than 98 percent are carrying printed PHW [public health warnings] in the market to guarantee our trade partners that they do not risk any penalty.”

Representatives of the British American Tobacco company distributing brands 555, Alain Delon, Kent, ARA and National, declined to comment.

In July they publicly left the Association of the Tobacco Industry of Cambodia trade organization after accusing it of not ensuring that all companies followed the change in packaging requirements.

Introduction of plain packaging and new, enlarged graphic health warnings in the Australian state of Victoria

Oct 17th, 2016
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Change in public support for the introduction of plain packaging and new, enlarged graphic health warnings in the Australian state of Victoria, 2011–2013

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2016/10/17/tobaccocontrol-2016-053238

Introduction

Since December 2012, all Australian tobacco products have been supplied in packaging that is a standardised drab brown colour with uniform fonts. The implementation of plain packaging coincided with the introduction of refreshed graphic health warnings (GHWs) that increased in size from 30% to 75% of the pack face, with coverage of the pack rear maintained at 90%.1

A slight rise in opposition to plain packaging among Australian smokers was reported immediately prior to implementation, followed by a significant increase in support, from 28% preimplementation (late 2011 to early 2012) to 49% postimplementation (early 2013).2 No data on the views of former or never smokers have previously been published.

Health Groups Sue FDA Over Cigarette Warning Labels

Oct 6th, 2016
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Eight public anti-tobacco groups are suing the government to require graphic and grotesque warning labels on packs of cigarettes.

http://www.nacsonline.com/Media/Daily/Pages/ND1006162.aspx

WASHINGTON – This week, eight public health groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S Food and Drug Administration to force the government to require graphic warning labels on packs of cigarettes.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 4 in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Truth Initiative and several individual pediatricians.

The groups maintain that the FDA is required by law to issue a final rule implementing Section 201(a) of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, which requires cigarette packages and advertisements to bear color graphic images and specified textual warnings.

On June 21, 2011, the FDA announced the nine graphic cigarette health warnings required to appear on every pack of cigarettes, carton and cigarette advertisement no later than September 2012. However, reports the Wall Street Journal, tobacco companies sued, and those labels were struck down in federal court on First Amendment grounds in 2013. The FDA has not taken up the issue of graphic warning labels since.

The Journal notes that the lawsuit filed this week is asking the court to set a deadline for the FDA to establish a new graphic warning rule, saying that the FDA “has been in violation [of the 2009 law] for more than four years.”’

Across the globe, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids estimates that more than 90 other countries have graphic warning labels, with Australia and Spain including photos on cigarette packs of gangrene feet and decaying teeth.

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