Australia+Takes+Aim+at+Tobacco+Marketing

Ratcheting up world-wide efforts against tobacco, Australia's government said Thursday it plans to ban brand labels and other marketing imagery on cigarette packaging by 2012, a move that would erase iconic logos like Marlboro's red-and-white chevron from store shelves.

Under the proposal, the tobacco industry would be prohibited from using logos, colors, brand imagery or promotional text on tobacco product packaging. The brand name would be reduced to small, uniform letters at the bottom of each pack. The dominant image would instead be the often-graphic antismoking warnings that Australian government has required since 2006.

Cigarette companies vowed to fight the measure Thursday. A spokeswoman for British American Tobacco PLC (BTI, BATS.LN), the largest cigarette maker in Australia by sales, said the company believes the plain packaging proposal will 'not hold up to close scrutiny.'

But Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who has seen his popularity drop in recent months and will have to face an election within a year, vowed to press on. 'Cigarettes kill people, therefore the government makes no apology whatsoever over what it's doing,' he said Thursday. He also enacted Thursday an immediate 25% increase in cigarette excise taxes, a move that will raise A$5 billion over the next four years.

Australian officials Thursday described the move as the first of its kind in the world, and it potentially marks a new front as governments around the world look for ways to curb tobacco use. Earlier this year in the U.S., a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can't block tobacco companies from using color and graphics in their advertisements, though he upheld other restrictions.

Cigarette company executives in Australia on Thursday complained that the rule would devalue brands but wouldn't reduce smoking. They also said plainer packs are easy to counterfeit.

The government's aim is to cut smoking rates to 10% or less of the adult population by 2018. The Australian government says smoking is the largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in Australia, killing over 15,000 Australians each year.

Rudd wants the legislation to be in place by Jan. 1, 2012, with the ban to take effect by July 1 of that year - an extended time frame that suggests a confidence his government will win the next federal election due by next April at the latest, but which also acknowledges the possibility of a protracted court battle with the tobacco giants.

The tax increase will raise the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes by around A$2.16. Cigarettes currently cost around A$12 to A$15 a packet, depending on the brand. Rubb said he hopes to use the A$5 billion from the higher cigarette taxes to fund public hospitals.

澳亚政府周四表示计划在2012年前禁止香烟包装使用品牌标识和其他市场营销图案，此举不仅令全球围剿烟草的战役升级，还可能导致一些著名烟标从此淡出人们视野，比如万宝路(Marlboro)红白盾形标志.

Reuters/Australia's Department Of Health

根据这一提案，烟草业将不得在包装上使用标识、色彩、品牌形像或促销性文字. 品牌名称将被压缩成包装底部的统一字体的小字，包装正面图案部分则将被澳大利亚政府2006年开始采用的反吸烟警告标致（多为图示）所取代.

烟草公司周四发誓要斗争到底. 澳大利亚销量最大的英美烟草(British American Tobacco PLC)发言人称，公司相信极简包装的提议在审查过程中根本经不起推敲.

但是澳大利亚总理陆克文(Kevin Rudd)发誓要推动该提案获得通过. 近几个月来陆克文支持率大幅下降，而且他在一年内还面临着竞选压力. 他周四表示，吸烟害死人，在控烟方面政府无论做什么都不会感到抱歉. 他当日还批准将烟草消费税提高25%，立即执行，此举将在未来四年给政府增加50亿澳元的税收.

澳大利亚官员周四称此举在全球首开先河，并且可能为各国政府的控烟战役开辟新的战场. 今年年初，一位美国联邦法官裁定美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)不得阻止烟草公司在广告中用彩色及图案推销商品，不过他维持了其他控烟禁令.

烟草公司驻澳大利亚高管周四抱怨说该规定将造成品牌价值减损，但不会减少吸烟. 他们还说极简包装很易伪造.

European Pressphoto Agency 澳大利亚总理陆克文在展示新的香烟包装 澳大利亚政府的目标是在2018年前将成年人的吸烟率降至10%，甚至更低. 政府表示，在引发疾病和过早死亡的诸多因素中，吸烟是一个最大的可预防原因，每年该国都有超过1.5万人死于吸烟相关疾病.

陆克文希望相关立法工作在2012年1月1日前启动，并在当年7月1日前开始实施该规定. 这一稍显推后的时间表意味着陆克文有信心自己的政府能够赢得最迟于明年4月举行的联邦选举，同时也表明政府知道自己和烟草巨头之间可能要上演法庭拉锯战.

烟草消费税的增加将使一包30支包装香烟的售价提高约2.16澳元. 目前澳大利亚的香烟售价约为12至15澳元，品牌不同售价有别. 陆克文说自己希望通过加税而增收的50亿澳元能用来为公立医院提供资金.