Labor rejects tobacco industry claim of plain packaging policy failure

Labor has rejected tobacco sector figures that display more cigarettes are becoming sold considering that the introduction of plain packaging.

The tobacco business British American Tobacco Australia has jumped on the figures as proof the plain packaging policy has failed but they are contradicted by Australian Bureau of Statistics information as effectively as by preliminary research into the affect of plain packaging on smoking routines. Labor launched necessary plain packaging in 2012 to significantly protest from tobacco companies.

Figures from InfoView, which are backed by the cigarette businesses Philip Morris and BATA, ran on the front webpage of the Australian on Friday, displaying an improve of .3% in the volume of cigarettes getting offered, but have not been adjusted to account for population development. The study also showed the yearly decline in the amount of men and women smoking more than halved.

When Guardian Australia contacted InfoView for the information it was directed to BATA, who sent a press release quoting the figures and slamming plain packaging.

“With development in sector volumes, fewer individuals quitting and a leap in the amount of cheap illegal cigarettes on the streets, you could draw the conclusion that folks are really smoking far more now than prior to plain packaging came into effect,” a spokesman, Scott McIntyre, stated.

When asked to present the raw information of the analysis, McIntyre replied it was “commercially sensitive”.

“It’s not BATA study,” he stated. “It’s purchased from third-celebration suppliers Roy Morgan and InfoView. We acquire data about our products, just like any other company that sells quick-moving consumer goods.”

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures demonstrate a decline in smokers in Australia since 2001, a trend that continued in 2011-twelve, when the percentage of female smokers dropped to 16.three% and male smokers decreased to twenty.four%.

ABS figures also record a decline in the total home expenditure on tobacco and cigarettes.

South Australia has recorded an improve in the smoking fee in the past 12 months, with 19.4% of the population smoking, up from 16.seven%, in accordance to government figures. The state is in the approach of banning smoking in alfresco places which the government is hoping will help reduced the rate.

The opposition wellness minister, Catherine King, referenced the ABS figures when commenting on the sector figures.

“Only the tobacco market thinks plain packaging is a poor factor – that is because they know they will be selling fewer cigarettes to fewer people,” she mentioned. “It is incumbent on the government to express its unqualified assistance for plain packaging.”

In BATA’s release it explained it was “very clear all information available” in excess of the past 12 months showed the plain packaging policy was a failure.

Most researchers agree it is as well early to correctly measure the impacts of the policy but preliminary investigation has shown men and women have been turned off by the plain packaging, which demonstrates graphic photos of effects of smoking, this kind of as rotting teeth.

Analysis into the influence of the initial 3 months of the policy, published in the British Medical Journal and funded by Cancer Council Victoria, identified 30.6% of smokers utilizing plain packaging perceived their cigarettes to be of decrease top quality than a yr earlier, in contrast with 18.1% of smokers using branded cigarettes.

It was also reported that 26.2% of plain-package smokers were much less satisfied by their cigarettes than they have been a year earlier, in contrast with 14.9% of branded-packet smokers.

Labor rejects tobacco industry claim of plain packaging policy failure