Australia&rsquos health minister has condemned cigarette company imperial tobacco&rsquos partial move towards plain packaging, labelling it &ldquothe ultimate sick joke&rdquo. All tobacco products manufactured or packaged for domestic consumption will be required to be sold in plain packaging from october 1, but imperial tobacco has preempted this in a new marketing campaign, telling cigarette retailers &ldquoit&rsquos what&rsquos on the inside that counts&rdquo. Its relabelled peter stuyvesant cigarettes show the old, branded packaging being ripped off, revealing plain packaging underneath.
The company told news limited it was &ldquoa mechanism to provide factual information about upcoming legislative changes&rdquo. &ldquowe&rsquore going plain early, because we know peter stuyvesant will continue to live on inside,&rdquo says a leaflet delivered to retailers.
The move has been condemned by health minister tanya plibersek. &ldquodiseased lungs, hearts and arteries are the reality of what is happening on the inside to a smoker,&rdquo she says. &ldquowe will be closely watching the new packages to ensure that they comply with the regulations because we know that big tobacco will use every trick in the book to try and get around the new requirements.&rdquo ms plibersek says the government will monitor new packs as they appear on shop shelves, and will refer them to the australian competition and consumer commission if potential breaches are identified. Httpwww.3news.co.nzimperialtobaccosplainpackagingattemptasickjoketabid417ar…;
