Philip Morris International, the biggest Cigarette Company in the world has attacked the UK Department, in the end with the public over whether to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products.
A report commissioned by the manufacturer of Marlboro brand of cigarettes said the cornerstone of the Research Ministry of Health about a simple package, failed to provide evidence that this will lead to a reduction in smoking, and were based on studies . The comments in the report of the American consulting firm Compass Lexicon, represent an unusually sharp criticism from a large tobacco company and goes to Alison Cooper, executive director of the FTSE 100 Imperial Tobacco, was criticized for the fact that the Ministry of Health “anti-business” in the last month.
They point to widespread tobacco industry fears that Britain may soon follow the example of Australia, where all tobacco products should be sold in packs of gray similar to the standard label and carrying a large health warnings this year. The report of the Ministry of Health of the Public Consortium for Health Research, a network of researchers, funded by the Ministry of Health, is the largest government report today in the efficacy of simple packages to reduce smoking.
Professor Gerard Hastings, one of the authors of the report, said: “A little more than three decades of research have been identified and it shows that plain packaging could help smokers in three ways: by increasing the value and effectiveness of health warnings by updating and thus smoking less attractive Remove confusion about the damage can cause packaging design. ” Separately, Philip Morris also released a study by researchers at Transcrime, Centre of Criminology research, based in Milan, which warned of plain packaging would be a fake cigarette lighter and can lead to increased smuggling of tobacco products in the UK.
“We do not think plain packaging would reduce smoking and simply lead to an increase in black market cigarettes,” said Philip Morris. So far, only Australia has a law on plain packaging. The government is struggling with a series of legal battles with tobacco authorities, who accuse him of illegal confiscation of their brands. This policy is also considered within the EU. British American Tobacco describes the data Ministry of Health for the introduction of plain packaging as “limited.” “We are very concerned about the way that the database and consultation impact assessment process falls short of standards that tend to require policies to be considered, let alone implemented,” said BAT.
