Australia OKs logo ban on cigarette

CANBERRA, Australia - The Associated Press

A generic plain packaged cigarette pack is displayed at Parliament House. EPA photo

Australia’s highest court upheld the world’s toughest law on cigarette promotion yesterday despite protests from tobacco companies that argued the value of their trademarks will be destroyed under new rules that will strip all logos from cigarette packs.

The decision by the High Court means that starting in December, tobacco companies will no longer be able to display their distinctive colors, brand designs and logos on cigarette packs. The packs will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature graphic health warnings and images of cancer-riddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children. The government hopes the new packs will make smoking as unglamorous as possible.

‘Victory for all families’

“This is a victory for all those families who have lost someone to a tobacco-related illness. For anyone who has ever lost someone, this is for you,” Attorney General Nicola Roxon and Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a joint statement. “No longer when a smoker pulls out a packet of cigarettes will that packet be a mobile billboard.” British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International are worried that the law will set a global precedent that could slash billions of dollars from the values of their brands.