[Intl-tobacco] Australia: 'Mild, light' cigarettes labels banned

[robert weissman]

The Courier-Mail (Australia)

'Mild, light' cigarettes labels banned
By Tim Clark
07nov05

Anti-tobacco lobbyists want all cigarettes labelled 'light' or 'mild'
recalled immediately, after the consumer watchdog reached agreement with
Imperial Tobacco today to remove such descriptions from its packaging.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced
it has obtained court-enforceable undertakings from Imperial to remove
descriptors such as 'light' and 'mild' from its products.

This follows a similar deal with British American Tobacco Australia and
Philip Morris earlier this year, meaning that no Australian cigarette
manufacturers or importers can use these descriptions.

Imperial must remove the light and mild descriptors from all cigarettes
produced for Australian consumers after October 1, and from all
cigarettes imported after October 24.

Anne Jones, CEO of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia, said
any product that still bore such descriptions should be immediately
recalled and pulped.

"If the cigarette companies want to back up their claim of acting
ethically and being socially responsible, they should recall all the
product out there rather than flogging it off," Ms Jones said.

Imperial Tobacco, whose products account for around 20 per cent of the
Australian cigarette market, will also pay $1 million to the ACCC to
help fund a campaign warning smokers of the risks of smoking.

"The undertakings reflect ... the matters of most concern to the ACCC,"
ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.

"These were the removal of the light and mild descriptors, the
prevention of further similar conduct, and the provision of further
funding for a media campaign to ... inform consumers that low-yield
cigarettes are not likely to offer health or related benefits."

Welcoming the move, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) said
so-called light cigarettes were a deliberate attempt to fool consumers.

"We welcome the decision to end what has been a concerted effort by the
cigarette companies to hoodwink the public," AMA federal president
Mukesh Haikerwal said.

"Research has shown people who smoke lights inhale smoke longer, deeper
and more often, and these brands are just as dangerous."

Andrew Ellerman of the Cancer Council of Australia said cigarette
companies had known for years that so-called light cigarettes were just
as harmful as the full strength ones.

"(Cigarette manufacturers) have known for decades that any suggestion
these types of cigarettes were less harmful was a fraud," Dr Ellerman said.

In pursuing the major cigarette manufacturers, the ACCC argued such
branding breached the "misleading and deceptive conduct" provision of
the Trade Practices Act.

The ACCC was one of the first regulators in the world to seek the
specific removal of light and mild descriptions, going further than a
European Union directive in 2001 on such descriptions, and further than
the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Pardeep Grewal, director of Imperial Tobacco's legal and corporate
affairs, said the signing of the ACCC agreement reaffirmed a public
commitment given by the company in February.

However, he said the company still maintained that the light or mild
descriptors were not misleading.

"We maintain these descriptors refer to the taste of the product," Mr
Grewal said.