Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox

Comments Sought On Australian Plain Packaging Bill

On November 26, 2009, the Senate of the Australian parliament referred the Plain Tobacco Packaging (Removing Branding from Cigarette Packs) Bill 2009 to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by March 17, 2010.  This bill proposes to amend Australia's Trade Practices Act 1974 and Trade Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Tobacco) Regulations 2004 product information standards to remove brands, trademarks, and logos from tobacco packaging. In short, Australia would outlaw tobacco branding, leaving no meaningful way to distinguish one product from another. Click here to read the full article.