CANADA:Big cigarette companies itching for court battle() (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Big cigarette companies itching for court battle Copyright infringement?:
Proposals 'may be against the law,' association says by Sheldon Alberts
National Post CANADA;  Date: Tuesday, 1/19/99
----------------------<14221>---------------------- Tobacco companies are
considering whether to mount a legal challenge against the federal
government's proposed new anti-smoking regulations, including one that
would more than double the size of warning labels on cigarette packages. 

Rob Parker, president of the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Association,
said the plan to cover 60% of a pack with dire health warnings may be a
copyright infringement that manufacturers will challenge in court. 

"We are going to defend our interests . . . There are a number of areas in
this package that may be against the law and we will have to look at
them," Mr. Parker said. 

"It is not clear whether it is possible for government to take this much
of the package," he said. 

Mr. Parker was responding to an ambitious set of anti-smoking measures
that Allan Rock, the Health Minister, announced yesterday. Mr. Rock said
that, if implemented, they will make Canada a "world leader in the
regulation of tobacco." 

The centrepiece of the initiative is a plan to further blanket cigarette
packs with information about the risks of smoking -- boosting the size of
warnings from 25% to 60% of the front panel. Mr. Rock is proposing to
expand the list of smoking's toxic emissions published on the package from
three to six, and print new warnings on the inside sleeve, or ''slide.''

A sample cigarette package produced by Health Canada also included a
side-panel message stating 45,000 Canadians will die this year from
smoking and a proposed 1-800 phone number smokers can call for help to
kick the habit.

The plan won praise from anti-smoking groups, who are holding a
brainstorming session in Ottawa today to generate new ideas on how to turn
young smokers against tobacco companies. 

"That slide warning system alone could in fact be one of the most
significant public health education campaigns that the world has ever
seen," said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer
Society. 

Ottawa began work on the new regulations after the tobacco companies
launched, and won, a Supreme Court challenge in 1994 against federal
legislation banning tobacco advertising. Mr. Rock said his proposed
regulations have been vetted through lawyers and he is "confident they are
consistent with the Supreme Court's guidance." 

In addition to the labeling regulations, Mr. Rock also signalled he is
mounting a war on "mild" and "light" cigarettes, issuing a consumer
warning about their potential to be "debilitating and lethal."

Mr. Rock also proposed regulations, which are still to be vetted through a
round of public consultations, aimed at restricting tobacco advertising
and displays in retail outlets, and requiring tobacco companies to provide
more detailed information about the ingredients in their products. 

Mr. Rock is targeting in-store advertising because he says it is a form of
marketing aimed directly at getting children to start smoking. He said
tobacco companies spend $60-million a year researching the best ways to
advertise at the point of sale.

"It is high time we spend time and effort distinguishing between lawful
communication with adult customers on the one hand and on the other the
insidious targeting of children," he said.

Proposals include the possibility of limiting the number of tobacco
products displayed, displaying only the sides of cigarette packages and
removing counter-top displays. 

Mr. Parker, of the manufacturers' association, predicts the proposed
regulations will only hurt retailers and taxpayers. Despite past measures,
smoking rates have remained level, he said.

"It will not be tough on tobacco manufacturers," he said. Tobacco
companies could spend between $100-million and $200-million to deal with
the regulations and "all of those are deductible expenses," Mr. Parker
said.

"So taxpayers first of all share 50% of the cost. Then the industry will
raise its prices in order to cover those costs. Who pays? Taxpayers pay."