[Intl-tobacco] Hong Kong: Philip Morris Pkg Fights Cigarette Warnings

[Robert Weissman]

*Hong Kong Activists: Philip Morris Pkg Fights Cigarette Warnings*


Sunday November 6, 5:00 AM EST

HONG KONG (AP)--Anti-smoking critics attacked Philip Morris's new
cigarette packaging Sunday as an attempt to counter a government plan to
add graphic health warnings to the packets.

The company recently released a limited-edition plastic sleeve for its
Marlboro cigarettes. The glossy red and black cover - featuring the
Marlboro Man strumming a guitar - can be reused for different cigarette
packets.

Judith Mackay, a senior policy adviser on smoking issues to the World
Health Organization, called the new packaging a "cynical attempt" to
"reintroduce some glamor back into the sale of cigarettes."

She accused Philip Morris of trying to circumvent the Hong Kong
government's proposal to add graphic warnings to cigarette packets and
ban descriptions that understate the health risk of smoking.

<http://c4.excite.com/adclick/CID=0000b698c3ee6fed00000000/AREA=MONEY/SITE=Excite/AAMSZ=336x280/CM=13225/CR=501/AD=179/CC=46744/ACB_RANDOM=2195880931?>


"It's absolutely against the spirit of the law, which is to do away with
imagery that makes these packets more attractive to young people,"
Mackay said.

The new warnings - expected to be introduced next year - could include
pictures showing a skull, as well as tumors and diseased lungs. Critics
say the new jacket could help smokers hide the graphic warnings on the
cigarette packets.

Wan Wai-yee, executive director of Hong Kong Council on Smoking and
Health, charged that Philip Morris was exploiting a loophole in
anti-smoking laws to attract smokers, according to the South China
Morning Post.

A spokeswoman for Philip Morris in Hong Kong, whose name was not given,
told the Post that the plastic covers were not meant to be reused.

"It's something that we do to offer our consumers more choice," the
spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

A man who answered the phone at the company's Hong Kong office Sunday
said no one was unavailable for comment.

The Hong Kong government has said graphic warnings will create a
stronger visual effect and that studies have shown they make smokers
less inclined to buy tobacco products and more inclined to quit. It has
noted Canada, Singapore and Brazil have adopted similar warnings.

But tobacco companies have argued against the proposal, saying the
graphics stigmatize smokers and violate free speech.

As of 2003, 15.3% of the Hong Kong population 15 or older, or 867,000
people, were smokers.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-06-05 0500ET