France to impose unbranded cigarette packets and forbid all advertising

PARIS – France will be the first European country to make ‘neutral’ cigarettes obligatory, as well as prohibit publicity. The French government announced last week that it will be following the example of Australia, the first nation to impose these measures. The new regulations (which can be expected to eventually become law in Europe, but it will take years) include the order that all packets must have ‘the same size and shape, colour and typography’ in order to eliminate any possibility of publicity among the young. A number of scientific studies, according to Spain’s Comité Nacional para la Prevención del Tabaquismo (CNPT, National Committee on Prevention of Tobacco Addiction), have demonstrated that removing any attraction from the packs helps the young to be less tempted to start smoking. However, Spain has already stated its position against these measures, as have also another eight EU countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece and Czech.