The pack of cigarettes will soon be neutral. After several hours of debate, in an often stormy atmosphere, the National Assembly voted Friday to establish the principle from May 2016 packets of cigarettes neutral, a key measure of the health bill against smoking.
The packets will have the same shape, same size, same color and the same typography, without any logo. The brand name, however, will continue to appear on small packages. These neutral packages were introduced for the first time in Australia in late 2012. Ireland has voted in February to impose a law, recently followed by the United Kingdom.
Tobacco and tobacconists angry
“In Australia the results are encouraging. The number of smokers has decreased by 3% in a year, the entry age in tobacco declined and support for the measure has doubled in the opinion, “pleaded Marisol Touraine, waving an Australian package in the Chamber and recalling that tobacco is 73,000 deaths per year in France.
The measure has caused outcry among tobacco threatening legal actions, and tobacco shops that lead an awareness campaign, with a lot of posters proclaiming “yes prevention, not punishment.” UMP and UDI deputies have lined up to denounce the fact that France goes further than European legislation.
Creation of a tax on the tobacco industry
To limit entry into youth smoking, MEPs also reinforced the ban on the sale of tobacco to minors. As for the sale of alcohol, tobacconist will require the client to establish proof of age. By adopting unexpectedly IDUs amendment against the advice of the government, they voted to ban smoking in cars carrying under 18 while the text adopted in committee only covered less than 12 years. They also voted an environmentalist amendment to prohibit the sale of “cigarette capsules”, a new popular product adolescents. They banned the installation of a tobacco shop around a school within a distance “a threshold set by decree of the Council of State.”
The MPs also approved measures transparency on lobbying of the tobacco industry, and expanded the ban on sponsorship by tobacco companies. They also voted against the advice of the government, the creation of a tax that would be paid by the tobacco industry if sales increase or decrease of less than 3% per year.
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