The price of a pack of cigarettes will rise by about $0.07 next year in Australia, according to a story in the Herald Sun. The increase will see the government face a potential re-election tussle with tobacco companies and retailers, who are still smarting over plain packaging laws. Cigarettes were the only sin tax targeted by [...]
A call by the Cancer Council for smoking to be banned at all West Australian (WA) mines sites has been rejected, according to an Australian Associated Press report. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) has said that a ban would cause resentment. WA’s Department of Mines and Petroleum data show smoking rates in the [...]
Cuba has become the latest country to launch a legal attack on Australia’s landmark plain packaging rules for tobacco at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The laws came into effect last December and mean cigarettes can only be sold in brown packages with graphic health warnings. The WTO says Cuba has requested consultations with Australia [...]
An Australian superannuation and investment fund is leading an international effort to pressure a Norwegian machinery maker to leave the tobacco industry. In what amounts to a new front in the war against tobacco, Australian Ethical will put forward a resolution on Monday at the annual general meeting of Norwegian company TOMRA, demanding it stop selling tobacco sorting [...]
A major research project has found that Australians have cut down on smoking and drinking, but they’ve gained weight and become more anxious. A survey by Roy Morgan Research of 50,000 Australians every year, over five years, has found 1.1 million fewer glasses of alcoholic drinks are being consumed a week and 134,000 fewer people smoke compared with 2007, according to [...]
Australia was due yesterday to start a new anti-tobacco propaganda campaign aimed at preventing the suffering caused by smoking. According to an Australian Associated Press story, the campaign, called “Stop before the suffering starts”, will use television and radio, and the print, online and social media. The campaign is said to highlight the toll taken [...]
U.K. taxpayers could face a £5 billion ($7.67 billion) bill if ministers insist cigarettes are sold in plain packages. The money would be awarded by courts to tobacco companies in recognition of the fact that the government had destroyed their brand equity, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, as reported on the This is Money website. [...]
Morgan Stanley analysts believe the spread of plain packaging beyond Australia may be “very slow.” Capital markets have been concerned that Australia’s plain tobacco packaging law–the world’s first–could spread to other nations, ultimately commoditizing the tobacco category by hurting brand equity and reducing manufacturers’ pricing power. The analysts base their optimism on the facts that [...]
