http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-26/big-tobacco-probed-over-plain-packaging-law-breach/4334478
By Latika Bourke
Updated Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:51am AEDT
British American Tobacco Australia is being investigated over possible breaches of the Federal Government’s new plain packaging laws.
From October it became illegal to manufacture cigarettes for Australian consumption in breach of the new rules, but six brands are already being examined for potential violations.
The investigation began after the ABC alerted the department to the possible breach.
The cigarettes feature three-letter words at the top of each, which the department is investigating to see if they are a form of advertising, which would be banned under the legislation.
In one instance, Benson & Hedges cigarettes are labelled with “LDN”; in another case Winfield cigarettes are stamped with “AUS”.
Photo: The department is investigating the appearance of three-letter words at the top of the cigarettes. (ABC)
Under the plain packaging regulations, cigarettes are allowed to be branded with an alphanumeric code but it must not represent or in any way be related to the brand or variant of the cigarette.
Professor Simon Chapman from Sydney University says the potential breach does not surprise him.
“They’re probably just testing the waters here to see what they can get away with in the early stages of the new legislation,” he said.
Professor Chapman says tobacco companies will do anything to create a sense of “intrigue” about their products.
“They’re a bit like the Black Knight in Monty Python in The Holy Grail; you cut their legs off, you cut their arms off and they keep on saying, ‘it’s just a flesh wound, bring it on’.”
Tobacco manufacturers are allowed to stamp their products with an alphanumeric code for the manufacturing and recall purposes, but the legislation says those codes cannot in any way relate to the brands.
The Government has written to British American Tobacco Australia to see if the cigarettes in question were manufactured this month.
If they were and are deemed to be in breach, the company faces fines worth more than $100 million and could also be forced to recall their products.
Professor Chapman says the Government needs to be tough with the tobacco companies.
“I just hope the Government will be really, really serious about this and invoke the steepest possible fines that are available to them,” he said.
They’re a bit like the Black Knight in Monty Python in The Holy Grail; you cut their legs off, you cut their arms off and they keep on saying, ‘it’s just a flesh wound, bring it on’.
Professor Simon Chapman
British American Tobacco Australia has told the ABC it has received no notification from the Health Minister nor the department.
A spokesman said the company would be willing to discuss the issue with the regulator as it did not believe there had been a breach and the company had done nothing illegal.
In September, before the new laws came into force, the Government singled out Imperial Tobacco for its new packaging which complied with the new legislation but for one line written on the inside lid of the packet: “It’s what’s inside that counts.”
The Government described it as a “sick joke” and warned the tobacco companies it would be watching their products carefully when the laws became enforceable.