ANTI-smoking campaigners in Scotland have welcomed a landmark court ruling that has made Australia the first country in the world to ban branding on cigarette packets.
The decision by the Australian High Court is the first legal test of attempts to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes, and comes just a month after the end of a public consultation on the policy by the Scottish Government and its UK counterparts.
The court threw out an appeal by four tobacco companies against pioneering legislation passed by the Australian Government last year that prohibits all branding and logos on cigarette packs on public health grounds.
From December 1, cigarettes will be sold in standardised boxes displaying the brand name in a single, legally-set font against a drab brown background. A graphic health warning using pictures of smoking-related illnesses must cover 75% of the front of the pack compared to one-third at present, with a 90% warning on the back.
ASH Scotland, which campaigns against smoking, welcomed the decision yesterday, saying it set a strong example to follow.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive, said: "The tobacco companies know that removing the fancy branding from their products will make tobacco less attractive to young people and undermine their ability to recruit new generations of smokers.
"The argument for plain packaging has been won, both in Australia and in the UK. The tobacco industry should stop putting profits ahead of public health and let governments get on with implementing legitimate measures that protect children and help people lead healthier lives."
Carolyn McCole, British Lung Foundation spokeswoman for Scotland & Northern Ireland, also welcomed the ruling.
She said: "This is potentially a huge step forward for the country's public health and we would like to see similar action taken here in Scotland."
Public health campaigners insist that plain packaging will reduce the appeal of tobacco products to young people, but cigarette manufacturers have fiercely opposed the move. The companies in the Australian case argued unsuccessfully that the proposals amounted to a confiscation of intellectual property without compensation. Previous measures passed by the Scottish Government to prevent children taking up smoking – such as the ban on displaying tobacco in shops and the removal of cigarette vending machines – have been held up by similar legal challenges from the tobacco industry.
An outstanding judgment on the latest Scottish case to be heard – an appeal against the ban on cigarette vending machines – is expected shortly.
Professor Gerard Hastings, director of the Cancer Research UK Centre for Tobacco Control Research at Stirling University, carried out a review of the evidence surrounding plain packaging for the UK Government last year.
He said: "It's clear that there are three potential benefits of plain packaging. One is it boosts the health warning, so that becomes more clear and more impactful.
"Secondly, plain packaging will reduce the attractiveness of the pack, particularly to young people, and thirdly, it removes potential miscommunications and deceits."
Tobacco firms have warned that a move to plain packaging would "play into the hands of the criminal gangs who profit from counterfeit tobacco".
Imperial Tobacco added: "Our intellectual property rights are robustly supported by trademark treaties and laws at an international, European and national level and we don't believe the Court's decision in Australia will have any legal implications in other markets."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We will carefully consider consultation responses, evidence and other relevant information before coming to decisions."
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