WHO And EU Clash With Tobacco Industry Over Plain Packaging Effectiveness

The drive to impose plain packaging on tobacco products, in the hope of discouraging current and potential smokers, has pitted the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the EU against the tobacco industry.
 

The industry says plain packaging has no visible impact on smoking rates while it opens the door to black markets. On the contrary, the WHO insists on the effectiveness of the measure and rules out any link to illicit trade.
 

From its side, the EU has adopted a “wait and see” approach, expecting 2.4 million fewer smokers over a five-year period of the new Tobacco Product Directive (TPD) implementation.
 

A new research conducted by consultancy group Europe Economics showed that the introduction of plain packaging has had no statistically significant impact on smoking prevalence in the UK and on consumption in the UK.
 

The research, which was based on government data and commissioned by Japan Tobacco International (JTI), found that three out of five UK adults believe plain packaging will lead to an increase in the number of illegal cigarettes, benefiting organised crime.
 

“What this evidence and public opinion research shows is that plain packaging should never have been introduced in the UK. Other European countries considering the measure should think twice before importing a failed experiment, which appears to have back-fired big time”, Ben Townsend, Head of EU Affairs for JTI, told EURACTIV.com.
 

“One year ago, the UK government introduced plain packaging for tobacco products in the absence of clear supportive evidence from Australia [at the time, the only country in the world to have introduced the policy]. Five-and-a-half years into the Australian experiment, we see that plain packaging has completely failed to reduce smoking rates”, he added.
 

Australia was the first country to introduce plain packaging for tobacco in 2012.
 

In the eyes of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and public health NGOs, plain packaging is a key tool to reduce the appeal of smoking, especially among young people. France, Hungary, Ireland, Slovenia and the UK are among the countries in Europe that have adopted this measure.
 

At EU level, the revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) came into force in May 2016 and introduced stricter measures on the packaging. For example, 65% of a packet’s surface should include health warning pictures and text.
 

But member states were also offered the opportunity to take additional measures, such as plain packaging.