Australia: Tougher Tobacco Laws Coming

Australia will face tougher tobacco regulations in the next two years if legislation proposed by Health Minister Mark Butler is adopted, according to ABC News.

The proposed legislation calls for a standardized size for tobacco packets and products, a standardized design for filters, health warnings on individual cigarettes, public health information in loose-leaf and cigarette packets, a ban on flavors and additives like menthol, and a restrictions on certain names used on packaging.

“[There are] names that are designed to mislead users, [that suggest] the cigarettes they are using are somehow going to be good for them, names like smooth or fresh burst,” Butler said. “These things are a cynical deliberate marketing strategy to bring new smokers into this public health menace and will be prohibited in this legislation.”

“The legislation that was put in place by former minister Nicola Roxon had a sunset date of April 1, 2024,” Butler said. “So if we do not pass replacement legislation, the current suite of regulations around plain packaging, graphic warnings and the like will lapse on April 1, so we intended to get this legislation passed by the Parliament before April 2024.”