Why the government is introducing plain cigarette packaging

The law could come into force in 2016 after ministers said MPs would be asked to vote on the plan. It follows a series of public consultations on the issue.

The Stirling Review

In April 2012 a UK-wide consultation on whether tobacco should be sold in standardised, or plain packaging, was launched.

After the consultation was published in July 2013 the government said it would wait to see the results of the standardised packaging legislation introduced in Australia in 2011 before making a final decision.

In November 2013, Sir Cyril Chantler was asked to undertake an independent review of public health evidence for standardised tobacco packaging.

The Stirling Review published in April 2014 found that:

• Standardised packaging is less appealing than branded packaging
• Graphic and text health warnings are more credible and memorable on standardised packaging than when juxtaposed with attractive branding
• Whereas colours and descriptors on branded packaging confuse smokers into falsely perceiving some products as lighter and therefore “healthier”, products in standardised packages are more likely to be perceived as harmful

Sir Cyril concluded that it was very likely that the introduction of standardised packaging would lead to a modest but important reduction in the uptake and prevalence of smoking and would have a positive effect on public health.

In June 2014, draft regulations and a consultation were published. The government said at the time they were particularly looking for views on the emergence of any new evidence including the wider implications of introducing standardised packaging.

On 22 January 2014, the government announced that it would be backing the public health case for introducing the policy but told Channel 4 News the response to the consolation over the summer would be published in due course.

Evidence in Australia

Australia became the first country to ban all images and words – apart from public health warnings – from cigarette packs in December 2012.

The Stirling Review review found that tobacco packages appeared to be especially important as a means of communicating brand imagery in countries like Australia and the UK which have comprehensive bans on advertising and promotion.

The government say there is no evidence that standardised packaging is easier to counterfeit, and in Australia, hardly any counterfeit standardised packages have been found to date. Tobacco consumption has been on a downward trend in Australia in recent years, according to the report.

Changes in consumption since the introduction of plain packaging are not yet clear.

The report also found there had been a marked increase in calls to the Australian cessation helpline, Quitline, with an increase of 78 per cent since the introduction of plain packing. There has been a continuation of a trend of down-trading towards value brands in Australia, the review found.

Illicit cigarettes

Estimates of the absolute size of the illicit market vary considerably in the report. A recent industry funded KPMG report found that the level of illicit cigarettes as a percentage of total cigarette consumption was in the low teens and has increased since plain packaging was introduced.

However, Australian government departments, both Health and Customs, appear strongly of the view that KPMG’s methodology was flawed. These departments point to the customs data which shows no significant impact on illicit tobacco, backed by analysis undertaken by the Cancer Council Victoria that suggested that illicit tobacco in Australia was only 10-20 per cent of the level attributed by KPMG.