Plain cigarette packaging introduced – A guide into the new rules

It is now almost a week since the new smoking legislation came into force in Britain, but what are the changes implemented and exactly does it mean you may ask?

From May 20, cigarettes are now being sold in green-coloured standardised, plain cigarette packaging depicting graphic warnings showing the grave health dangers emanating from smoking. These new rules are mainly aimed at helping to prevent youngsters from picking up the habit.

In a report compiled by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published in July 2015, it was claimed that around 207,000 children in the UK start smoking each year, with an estimated two-thirds taking up smoking prior to turning 18 and over 80% before the age of 20.

ASH also say there’s around 10million smokers in the UK and a further 2.6million are using e-cigarettes.

However, new rules coming into play under the Tobacco and Regulated Products Regulations 2016 will look at getting more people to stop smoking, reducing the number of nicotine addicts by about 2.4million.

Changes will affect all cigarettes, hand-rolling tobacco and e-cigarettes manufactured for sale across Britain.

All products had to adhere to the regulations from May 20, however retailers have been given a one-year transitional period whilst old stock in sold.

Smokers going into their local shop for a packet of Marlboro cigarettes will no longer be able to spot the famous red and white packaging, but will now be faced with every brand bearing an identical olive-green colour, opening and font styles.

‘lipstick-style’ packs targeted at women, such as Vogue cigarettes, are also now forbidden, with at least 65% of the packaging being covered with public health warnings, graphic photos and text clearly showing the horrendous effects that smoking can do to the human body.

It isn’t just the packaging that has been hit hard…Promotional material will now no longer be able to utilise misleading descriptive words like “lite”, “natural” or “organic”. Statements such as “free of additives” and “less harmful than other brands” have also been outlawed.

Quantity has also been affected with the new changes, with all packs having to contain a minimum of 20 cigarettes so there is sufficient space on the packing itself to display all the health warnings.

Moreover, small bags of rolling tobacco will also be banned. Pouches now have to weigh at least 30g, whilst the current smallest pouch size is 8g.

Menthol cigarette smokers will be devastated to learn that flavoured cigs are being eradicated, becoming completely illegal by May 20 2020.

Other flavours set to go in the next four years include fruit, spice, herbs, alcohol, candy and vanilla.
Presently, there is no limits with regards to refill container size, but this is now consigned to the past. Containers will be capped at 10ml and 2ml for disposable e-cigarettes, cartridges and tanks.

This will undoubtedly impact the price of the containers as e-cig users can no longer purchase in bulk. Also, the highest strength of a vile of vaping liquid will now be 20mg per ml of nictotine, dropping from 24mg.

E-cigarette packing will also be forced to change. About 30% of the packet has to have the warning: “This product contains nicotine which is a highly addictive substance.” As vaping liquid can be dangerous if ingested, e-cigarettes now have to be childproof and tamper-proof.

Has plain packaging failed? Cigarette sales are on the rise

Australia’s plain packaging smoking legislation came into force back in December 2012, forcing all tobacco products to be sold in dull, drab boxes with no fancy design, branding, or manufacturer information. Instead, there was only permitted to be graphic and disturbing health warnings, aimed to deter smokers from continuing with the habit, and non-smokers from actually beginning to start smoking.

Logically, one would naturally expect sales of tobacco to maybe drop a year on after the world’s first law for such a requirement. However, remarkably the complete opposite has happened, and industry figures show that sales of tobacco products have actually increased since the plain packaging legislation kicked in.

The Australian Labor health minister Nicola Roxon pushed through the law almost 18 months ago as an attempt to discourage people from smoking, a habit which claims around 15,000 lives each year in the country, with social and economic costs estimated at $31.5 billion annually.

Unfortunately, the plan has clearly backfired tremendously with sales skyrocketing by an incredible 59 million cigarettes in 2013, up by 0.3% on the previous year. This rise comprises of both packaged cigarettes and the roll-your-own equivalents, according to ‘The Australian’ newspaper.

This increase marks a stark turnaround in broader trend of tobacco sales in Australia, which had previously declined by 15.6% in the four years prior.

However, the introduction of plain packaged tobacco appears to have boosted the demand for cheaper cigarettes, with reports of a more than 50 per cent rise in the market for lower cost cigarettes.

The findings stem from research conducted by industry monitor InfoView, demonstrating an increase in the market share of cheaper cigarettes, rising from 32% to 37% last year. This appears to be corroborated by retailers, consumer markets and the industry. For instance, cigarette maker Philip Morris claims its ­information has indicated absolutely no decline in demand.

Australasian Association of Convenience Stores chief executive Jeff Rogut said that sales by his members had risen by $120 million, or 5.4% last year. He commented: “Talking to members, one of the most common refrains they get from people coming into stores is, ‘What are your cheapest smokes?’.”

In addition, there has been more worrying statistics to emerge in recent weeks by the NSW and South Australian governments that show smoking appears to be increasing at a rapid rate.

The 2013 population health survey for NSW was published last month and stated that 16.4% of all adults residing in the state smoked, up from 14.7% in 2011. Moreover, for South Australia, a similar pattern was evident. The rate of adults smoking has increased from 16.7% in 2011 to 19.4% last year.

However, the opposition health spokesperson Catherine King spoke to The Australian and said she would ignore industry data and instead rely on information obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed that rates of smoking were still dropping.