Plain packaging attacked
Critics contend that plain packaging has done little to reduce smoking rate in Australia.
The removal of brands from packaging is a ‘gross violation’ of intellectual property rights and has failed to achieve its intended goals, the Property Rights Alliance argues in a letter to the World Health Organization.
According to a story by Claire Stam for EURACTIV.com; in an open letter to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Gehbreyesus, an international alliance of 62 think tanks, advocacy groups and civil-society organisations said it was time to end ‘ineffective’ standardized packaging for any kind of product.
The alliance said they had sent the letter in response to a growing number of standardized-packaging tobacco-control measures in a number of countries.
‘Intellectual property rights are human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 17, the right to ownership, Article 19, the right to freedom of expression, and article 27, the right to protection of material interests,’ the letter reportedly said.
‘In this regard, even if plain packaging is effective, it should still be repealed, as rights are inalienable and should not be discarded for political purposes.’
Meanwhile, Stam said that, in the eyes of the WHO and public health NGOs, standardized packaging was a key tool to reduce the appeal of smoking, especially among young people.
The full story is at: https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/who-urged-to-end-ineffective-tobacco-plain-packaging/.
