Australian court deals blow to tobacco giants ( China Post )
發佈日期： 2012-08-22
CANBERRA -- Australia called on the world to match its tough new anti-tobacco marketing laws after its highest court on Wednesday dismissed a challenge from global cigarette companies, although few of Asia’s emerging economies appeared likely to follow suit.
The decision means that from Dec. 1 cigarettes and tobacco products must be sold in plain olive green packets without special colorful branding. Instead, packages must display graphic health warnings including pictures of mouth cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.
Tobacco giants British American Tobacco, Britain’s Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco challenged the laws in Australia’s High Court, claiming the rules were unconstitutional because they effectively extinguished their intellectual property rights.
In a brief statement, the High Court said a majority of its seven judges believed the laws did not breach Australia’s constitution. A full judgment will be released later.
The laws are in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations and are being watched closely by Britain, Norway, New Zealand, Canada and India, who are considering similar measures to help fight smoking.
The WHO estimates that more than 1 billion people around the world are regular smokers, with 80 percent in low- and middle-income countries.
Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon hailed the ruling as “a watershed moment for tobacco control around the world.”
“The message to the rest of the world is big tobacco can be taken on and beaten,” said Roxon, whose father, a smoker, died of cancer when she was 10.
“Without brave governments willing to take the fight up to big tobacco, they’d still have us believing that tobacco is neither harmful nor addictive,” she said after the ruling.
