Over half a million children have taken up smoking since the Government first announced it would consult on plain standardised packaging of cigarette packs in 2011 [1] and every day hundreds more join them.[2] Following a strongly supportive government-commissioned independent review of the evidence [3] the Public Health Minister said she wanted to introduce the necessary regulations in this Parliament. [4] Unfortunately, despite successful implementation [5] [6] [7] and growing popularity [8] in Australia, the Government is yet to make a final decision and is now using the requirement to complete the process of notification to Europe, which runs until 2nd March 2015, as an excuse for further delay.[9] This is a complete red herring. After notification is complete it will be possible to vote on the Regulations without the need for further revision, but in the interim the UK government has to take the necessary steps to make a vote possible.[10] By mid-January the Government must table the regulations so parliamentary scrutiny processes can be completed in time. Parliament voted overwhelmingly in support of the primary legislation to bring in this measure [11], the Conservatives’ coalition partners and the official Opposition have committed to find the necessary parliamentary time to debate and vote on the Regulations.[12] This is not a matter of European bureaucracy preventing the UK from going ahead; it is a matter of political will. Delay is the key goal of tobacco companies.[13] As Health Professionals, we need to know if the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health will now stand up to the tobacco industry and make the same commitment to introduce standardised tobacco packaging, or will they betray public health by blocking this key measure?
Dr Nicholas Hopkinson
Consultant Respiratory Physician
Chair British Thoracic Society Specialist Advisory Group on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Dr Sanjay Agrawal
Consultant Intensive Care Physician
Chair British Thoracic Specialist Advisory Group on Tobacco
Rebecca Sherrington
Chair Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists
Dr Janet Atherton
President, Association of Directors of Public Health
Dr Iolo Doull
President British Paediatric Respiratory Society
[1] Department of Health. Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Tobacco Control Plan for England. 9 March 2011.
[2] Hopkinson NS, Lester-George A, Ormiston-Smith N, et al. Child uptake of smoking by area across the UK. Thorax 2013. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-204379.
[3] Standardised Packaging of Tobacco. Report of the Independent Review undertaken by Sir Cyril Chantler April 2014
[4] House of Commons Debates: Tobacco Products (Standardised Packaging) Hansard 3rd April 2014: Col 1022
[5] Tobacco facts and figures: Australian Department of Health
[6] Scollo M, Zacher M, Durkin S, Wakefield M. Early evidence about the predicted unintended consequences of standardised packaging of tobacco products in Australia: a cross-sectional study of the place of purchase, regular brands and use of illicit tobacco. BMJ Open 2014;4:e005873 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005873
[7] Scollo M, Bayly M, Wakefield M. Availability of illicit tobacco in small retail outlets before and after the implementation of Australian plain packaging legislation. Tob Control doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2013-051353 Published Online First 10 April 2014
[8] Swift, E et al. Australian smokers’ support for plain or standardised packs before and after implementation: findings from the ITC Four Country Survey.
Tob Control doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-051880. Published Online First 10 November 2014
[9] House of Commons Parliamentary Questions: Tobacco Packaging Hansard. 25 Nov 2014, Column 733-734
[10] Technical Standards Directive 98/34/EC Procedure Guidance for Officials. DBIS, Sept. 2013. See point 12 “...the Department should notify the regulations at a draft stage and observe the standstil