Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum (TTCF) joins the rest of the global tobacco control community to congratulate the Australian high court for ruling in favour of the “Plain packaging law” confirming the Australian Government’s legal right to proceed with mandatory plain packaging of tobacco.
From 1st December 2012, all cigarettes packaging in Australia will not be allowed to have tobacco company logos and brand imagery. Instead, they will be sold in brown coloured boxes with the brand names in standard text; the only imaging allowed will be photos of people suffering from diseases caused by tobacco use.
The purpose of the legislation is to prevent youth from starting smoking by reducing the appeal of tobacco packaging. Research shows that young people ‘like’ regular packs and found plain packaging ‘boring’ and ‘less trendy’. They reported that they were less likely to start smoking if all cigarettes were sold in plain packs.
Plain packaging has several other benefits. It will remove the ability of the cigarette companies to falsely imply that some brands like ‘light’ or ‘low tar’ are less harmful than regular cigarettes. It will also enhance the effectiveness of health warnings.
The new law will now make it illegal, for example, for the cigarette manufacturers to market cigarettes in ‘slim’ packages to women to promote the belief that smoking is a way to stay thin and control weight.
The tobacco companies have opposed plain packaging more ferociously than any other tobacco control measure, because they know that plain packaging would have a major impact on smoking in Australia - and in the other countries that might follow Australia’s lead.
The cigarette companies hate nothing more than laws that restrict its ability to sell more cigarettes and more cigarette sales, mean more sickness and more deaths; governments have a duty to act to reduce these harms.
This is a second blow in quick succession from the court’s to the tobacco industry’s view that cigarettes are ‘legal’ and that it has a right to market this deadly addiction as though they were selling wholesome apples and oranges.
Last week, the Constitutional Court in South Africa denied British American Tobacco SA leave to appeal against a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that a ban on the advertising and promotion of tobacco products under the Tobacco Products Control Act was “reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society”.
The judgments from Australia and South Africa show that tobacco control laws are fair, responsible and based on a solid legal and scientific platform.
Article 11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first public health treaty, recommends plain packaging of tobacco products to reduce demand for tobacco products. The Convention requires Parties to consider adopting measure to restrict the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in a standard colour and font style. Several countries around the world including New Zealand and United Kingdom are already planning to adopt plain packaging of tobacco products. Tanzania ratified the FCTC in April 2007; however, to-date, the Tobacco Products (Regulation) Act, 2003 (TPRA, 2003) is yet to confirm to the requirements of the FCTC. Lack of an effective law has resulted into increased tobacco use, particularly among the youth who are most vulnerable to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
In addition, research carried out at Muhimbili National Hospital and Ocean Road Cancer Institute indicated that, the government spends more than USD 30m per year to attempt treatment of tobacco-related cancers, yet more than 3,000 people die annually from these diseases. Other diseases that are tobacco-related include heart disease and stroke, diabetes, stomach ulcers, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and impotence. Globally, tobacco kills nearly six million smokers each year and another 600,000 nonsmokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030, 80% of which will be from low and middle income countries including Tanzania. TTCF urges the government to enact a legislation that is FCTC-compliant, in order to protect current and future generations from the devastating consequences of tobacco smoke.
For further information, please contact
Lutgard Kokulinda Kagaruki
Executive Director
Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum: Tel: +255 754 284528
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