Updated
Britain's health secretary says Australia's lead on cigarette plain packaging has inspired the UK to develop similar laws of its own.
While the Australian Government is preparing to do legal battle with cigarette companies over plain packaging, the UK is starting a consultation process aimed at stopping young people taking up smoking.
British health secretary Andrew Lansley says 5 per cent of 11 to 15-year-olds are regular smokers, adding to a habit that costs the country 100,000 lives each year.
Cancer Research UK tobacco control manager Robin Hewings says Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon has had an important influence on UK.
"We know Andrew Lansley, our health secretary here, says that talking to Nicola Roxon was one of the things that inspired him to have a consultation on plain packaging," she said.
"The kind of strength that the Australian Government is showing in response to the current tobacco industry legal action and bullying and so on, I think has also helped us as well."
Cigarette companies in the UK are as stridently against seeing plain packaging laws introduced into the country.
Imperial Tobacco communications director Alex Parson says a packaging ban would simply fuel the counterfeit industry.
Tobacco companies in Australia raised the same issue before the Federal Parliament passed its plain packaging laws last November. The laws are due to come into effect in December this year.
What we have noticed in particular is how vociferously the tobacco companies fought the legislation in Australia, so we already know some of the tricks they're going to get up to and are well prepared for it
The laws ban the use of company logos and require all cigarette packets to be a uniform dark green colour.
British American Tobacco has launched a High Court challenge against the laws in Australia, saying the Government is attempting to acquire valuable intellectual property used to identify tobacco brands without compensation.
Tobacco giant Philip Morris has also filed two challenges to the laws, saying they violate Australia's trade treaty with Hong Kong and are unconstitutional.
'No evidence'
Mr Parson denies there is any evidence children are attracted by cigarette packaging in the first place.
"The idea that children are going into their local shop to buy sweets and a comic and then are seeing coloured packs of cigarettes behind the retailer counter and are compelled to try and purchase cigarettes, is just ludicrous; there's just no evidence to support that at all," he said.
But Professor Linda Bald from the University of Stirling disagrees.
"The industry has put all its funding, almost all its advertising and marketing budget into creating innovate, brightly coloured packs," she said.
"We've seen an explosion of innovation on packaging in recent years and we know that those packs do appeal to children."
Her view is strongly supported by many British MPs, including Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams, who chairs a parliamentary committee on smoking.
Like many, he has a story of personal loss that fuels his anger against the tobacco industry.
"My father was a smoker but he died young; he died when he was 42 and one of the causes of his death was respiratory failure," he said.
"That's one of the main reasons why, as a politician, I am very much against smoking myself."
Mr Williams also says Australia is leading the way.
"What we have noticed in particular is how vociferously the tobacco companies fought the legislation in Australia, so we already know some of the tricks they're going to get up to and are well prepared for it," he said.
Topics: smoking, health, world-politics, federal-government, united-kingdom, australia
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