Big tobacco company’s warning over plain packaging
ONE of the world’s largest tobacco companies warned yesterday it would not be able to stock shelves with its tobacco products if the Gillard government went ahead with plain cigarette packaging.
Managing director of British American Tobacco Australia David Crow told a parliamentary inquiry yesterday Australia would be flooded with cheap cigarettes from China and Indonesia if the laws come into effect next year.
Mr Crow told the hearing on the plain packaging legislation that if the bill stands”I will be out of stock on the first of July”.
“If the industry goes out of stock, the only person to stock the industry is a bunch of guys out of Indonesia, out of China, who currently stock 16 per cent (of the illegal market) and they’ll flood the market with cheap cigarettes,” Mr Crow said. “This is not good. We will not be able to break the law to supply the market
British American Tobacco (BAT)’s brands include Dunhill, Winfield and Benson & Hedges.
The government’s legislation is to take effect from January 1 with the tobacco industry having six months from then to phase in all its plain packaged products.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Nicola Roxon said tobacco companies had known for a long time about the timetable.
Mr Crow said his company would defend its intellectual property in court if it had to, which may lead to a “big legal bust up”.
He said the plan for plain packs was a costly “punt” because there was no hard evidence it would help stop people from smoking and called on the government to “have a proper, open dialogue” with the company.
“I would go after education, I would go after looking at excise and pricing,” he said. “Pricing is one of the biggest issues that affects children smoking.
“This (paper packaging) is an expensive experiment at the expense of the Australian taxpayer.”
But much of Mr Crow’s evidence was questioned by health groups and the Department of Health and Ageing.
The National Heart Foundation urged the parliamentary committee to “run a very fine sieve” over BAT’s evidence, while Nathan Smyth, from the department, said some claims made by BAT “were not valid or accurate”.
