A group of researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand, has suggested that manufacturers should be required to produce only brown-colored cigarettes, according to a story in the Otago Daily Times relayed by the TMA.
The researchers, led by Janet Hoek, reportedly said that cigarettes ‘should be made brown from top to bottom’ because white cigarettes created connotations of purity and cleanliness.
They were commenting on the proposed Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill.
The researchers called also for standardization of the length and diameter of cigarettes.
They would like to see roll-your-own tobacco sold in ‘rigid containers of prescribed dimensions’ rather than in soft plastic packaging.
They would like the country of manufacturer to be excluded from tobacco packaging because in their view there is strong evidence that such information communicates marketing appeals to consumers.
And they would like pack health warnings to be revamped to include themes such as the social unattractiveness of smoking, tobacco industry denormalization, and the effects of environmental tobacco smoke on children and companion animals.
The submission included input from researchers at Auckland University.
It said New Zealand had an opportunity to ‘develop unique regulations that set a new standard’.
The bill passed its second reading in parliament in June, and a health ministry consultation on the regulation closed on July 29.
The ministry received 63 submissions on the bill. A ministry spokeswoman said the ministry would review the submissions and report back to the government by the end of 2017