[Intl-tobacco] Australia: New Graphic Warnings, and Industry Response

[Robert Weissman]

http://www.health.gov.au/mediarel/yr2004/tw/picsindex.htm

GRAPHIC WARNINGS PLANNED FOR CIGARETTE PACKETS

Australian Government
Department of Health and Ageing
 Press Release

 February 2, 2004

 The government is going through the process required to replace the current
 warnings on tobacco products with graphic images of diseases caused by
 smoking, the Australian Government Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Trish
 Worth, announced today. "Evaluation of the existing warnings on tobacco
 products showed they had lost their visual impact and needed to be renewed,"
 Ms Worth said. "They were introduced in 1995 under the Trades Practices Act,
 and Australia has had warnings on tobacco products since 1973."

 Ms Worth said a regulation impact statement (RIS) for new health
warnings on
 tobacco products had been developed by the Treasury. From today,
members of
 the public and interested stakeholders were invited to help develop the new
 health warnings through making comments on the RIS. Comments could be made
 until 19 March 2004. "The new warnings being considered under the RIS
 highlight more strongly the fact that tobacco is a lethal consumer product,"
 Ms Worth said. "Tobacco smoking is the single largest preventable cause of
 death and disability in Australia. It kills more than 19,000 people, is
 responsible for about 80 per cent of drug-related deaths, and costs the
 Australian community around $21 billion in social costs per year.

 "The government's RIS is an important step because there is evidence that
 packet warnings can have an impact on the smoker at the point of
 consumption. Packet warnings have worked to complement the government's
 successful information campaigns," she said. "Graphic health warnings
 similar to the planned new Australian warnings were introduced in Canada,
 resulting in a 3 per cent reduction in smoking."

 Ms Worth said a joint review was carried out by the Department of
Health and
 Ageing and Treasury and market testing of options for new health warnings,
 including graphics, was completed in 2003. The RIS was then developed by
 Treasury, based on the results of community consultation, market
testing and
 consultation with industry.

 The RIS proposes 14 new graphic health warnings. These will be placed on
 both the front and back of cigarette packets. Two display options are
 proposed: Either half of the front and half of the back of the pack; or 30
 per cent of the front and 90 per cent of the back.

 The RIS also proposes new display rotation arrangements: seven warnings will
 be rotated in the first year and seven in the second year. The 14 new
 messages are:

 Smoking causes lung cancer
 Smoking causes emphysema
 Smoking increases your risk of heart attack
 Smoking doubles your risk of stroke
 Smoking causes peripheral vascular disease
 Smoking clogs your arteries
 Smoking causes blindness
 Smoking causes mouth and throat cancer
 Smoking harms unborn babies
 Protect children, don't let them breathe your smoke
 Smoking is addictive
 Quitting will improve your health
 Smoking - a leading cause of death
 Tobacco smoke is toxic.


 "The RIS also proposes a new information statement to replace the current
 misleading listings of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide on the side of
 cigarette packs," Ms Worth said. "The current warnings require
 manufacturers to show numeric levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide.
 Recent evidence raises concerns about this, in particular:

 Machine testing processes don't successfully imitate smokers' own behaviour,
 so the numbers bear no relation to what smokers actually ingest. There are
 more than 1,000 toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke that the numbers don't
 cover. We now know that there is no link at all between a low tar cigarette
 and better health outcomes. There is no safe cigarette. "The government
 therefore is considering a proposal to replace these numbers with a general
 warning about the toxicity of cigarettes.

 "This also raises the question of what such terms as 'light' and 'mild' in
 cigarette brand names mean. The Australian Competition and Consumer
 Commission is still investigating whether these terms are misleading under
 the Trade Practices Act. The government may also have to consider whether
 other legislative approaches may apply," Ms Worth said. As well, new
 warnings are proposed for cigars, to highlight that they are not a safe
 alternative to cigarettes.

 Ms Worth said that following consideration of comments on the RIS, the
 government expected to finalise regulations for the new health warnings by
 the end of the June 2004 sitting of Parliament. If approved by the
 government, the warnings could appear on cigarette packets from June 2005.
 "The government is committed to minimising the harm associated with smoking,
 and has helped reduce Australia's smoking prevalence rates from 24.0 per
 cent in 1993 to 19.5 per cent in 2001. This is one of the lowest smoking
 prevalence rates in the world and Australia has become an international
 leader in tobacco control," Ms Worth said.

 "We were one of the first countries in the world to legislate to phase out
 tobacco advertising at international sporting events. We have led the world
 in developing national policy and surveillance frameworks on tobacco
use, in
 bans on smoking in public places, in controlling sales to minors, and in
 developing innovative health promotion techniques. Our $21 million National
 Tobacco Campaign has run since 1997 and is globally recognised, with more
 than 30 countries taking up the advertisements."

 Comments on the RIS should be provided to the Treasury, by 19 March 2004,
 to:

 Ms Kerry Ashbolt
 Consumer Safety Unit
 Strategy, Consumer and Group Service Division
 Department of the Treasury
 PARKES ACT 2600
 Fax: 02 6263 2830
 E-mail: recalls@recalls.gov.au


 For more information about the RIS, please visit
http://www.treasury.gov.au

 Images at: http://www.health.gov.au/mediarel/yr2004/tw/picsindex.htm

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Tobacco Warnings Ineffective
Australian Financial Review

 February 3, 2003


 Miranda McLachlan

 Tobacco Warnings 'Ineffective'

 The tobacco industry has claimed that new graphic health warnings on
 cigarette packets unveiled by the government yesterday will have minimal
 impact, except to increase the cost of packaging. The warnings, including
 photos of a lung devastated by cancer and a bloody brain which has
endured a
 stroke, were put on display yesterday. After public comment, they will be
 gazetted in June and they will be stuck on all cigarette packets by
 mid-2005.

 The tobacco industry hit back yesterday claiming the proposed 14 new health
 warnings, which cost $500,000 to research and design, would not change
 smoking habits. According to research commissioned by British American
 Tobacco Australia, 77 per cent of the community believed the warnings would
 have little or no effect.

 "Smokers clearly understand the risks associated with smoking," BATA
head of
 corporate and regulatory affairs John Galligan said yesterday. "It's time
 the government focused instead on addressing issues of real concern to the
 community and the industry such as youth smoking prevention."

 According to treasury estimates, the changes will cost $16 million in
 printing costs with tobacco packaging companies Amcor and BATA subsidiary
 ANZPAC bearing the brunt of the up-front costs of the changes. However, the
 government also estimates the drop in smoking as a result of the warnings
 would reduce consumption by 700 million cigarettes by 2006.

 That will result in a loss of excise and customs of up to $130 million for
 the government. The three major tobacco companies, BATA, Philip Morris and
 Imperial Tobacco Australia are expected to lose about $19 million
before tax
 in that year while local tobacco growers are expected to lose gross income
 of around $1 million a year.

 Cancer Council of Victoria director David Hill described the proposal
as "a
 great step forward" and said the images would "have a significant impact".