Australia to Introduce New Tobacco Law; E-Cigarettes to Face Advertising Restrictions

  Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said that stricter laws and regulations will be introduced to crack down on cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

Breaking news: According to a September 12 report by the Daily Mail, Australian Health Minister Mark Butler said that stricter laws and regulations will be submitted to combat cigarettes and e-cigarettes. He said tobacco control legislation is the “critical” next step in the fight against tobacco and nicotine addiction, with the goal of reducing the national smoking rate to 5% by 2030. 

If passed, graphic warnings on cigarette packaging will be updated and extended to individual cigarettes; additives such as menthol flavoring may be banned; and e-cigarettes will face advertising restrictions as part of efforts to curb their use. 

As health minister, he believes Australia has started to lose momentum in the fight against tobacco addiction after pushing through plain packaging reforms. 

He said that around 20,000 Australians die from smoking each year, making it the country’s leading cause of preventable death and disability. 

By 2030, the Labor government hopes to reduce the national smoking rate to below 5%, and the smoking rate among Indigenous Australians to below 27%. 

If the legislation passes, the packaging, product sizes, and filter designs of cigarettes and e-cigarettes will be standardized; cigarettes and e-cigarettes will not be allowed to use “appealing names that imply reduced harm”; and health promotion materials will be required inside the packaging. 

If passed, these changes will take effect in April next year, and the industry will have one year to comply. 

Butler said:

“Since plain packaging was introduced, Big Tobacco has become increasingly creative and cunning in its marketing strategies.”