Jump to full article: Packaging News (uk), 2009-10-15
Author: Josh Brooks, packagingnews.co.uk, 15 October 2009
Intro: Counterfeit cigarettes could thrive under a new law forcing retailers to hide tobacco products under the counter, packaging and tobacco experts have warned.
MPs voted on Monday (12 October) in favour of a ban on tobacco displays in shops and cigarette vending machines in a move that the government believes will help stop young people taking up smoking.
Small retailers will have until 2013 to remove their cigarette displays, while larger retailers will be expected to make the changes by 2011. Vending machines will also be banned.
While public health lobbyists have welcomed the ban, retailers have warned that it will increase costs and threaten smaller shops while the tobacco industry and some in the packaging sector have argued that it will offer an opportunity for counterfeiters to have a greater hold on the market.
Chesapeake marketing manager Bob Houghton said: "Our concern would be the reduction in required print quality which is likely to lead to higher rates of counterfeiting.
"There would also be significant costs associated with the move both for the print industry and the tobacco sector."
Christopher Ogden, chief executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Association, said: "We believe that organised crime will exploit the ban.
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