TodayOnline-Nov 1
From 2020, the packaging of all tobacco products sold here will be stripped of its colour, brand images and promotional information to take on a standard look, if proposed changes to the law are passed after being tabled in Parliament early next year.
With the change, cigarette packs will come in the same size, shape and appearance: A dark drab brown surface with a matt finish, and graphic health warnings will cover at least 75 per cent of it, up from the 50 per cent mandated now.
While the packs may still carry the product’s brand name, they will have to be printed in a standardized font style at a spot decided by the authorities.
Announcing these on Wednesday (Oct 31), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that it will introduce the new measures under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act.
If enacted, the new measures may be expected to take effect from 2020.
Those in the tobacco industry will be given enough notice and a transition period to comply with regulations, and for old stock to be cleared at stores. Cigarettes, cigars and other roll-your-own tobacco products are among the items that will come under the new ruling, MOH said.
The standardized packaging is meant to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco products and their ability to mislead consumers on the harmful effects of smoking.
The enlarged warning signs will make the graphic more noticeable and effective, and better inform smokers and non-smokers of the risks associated with tobacco use.
The ministry said that more needs to be done “to achieve sustained declines” in the overall smoking rates and especially the smoking rate among men.
There remains a “sizable proportion” of adult men who smoke daily — more than one in five — which is higher than the rate in other countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
This is despite ongoing efforts to discourage smoking, such as the ban that prohibits general retailers from displaying tobacco products for sale, which has been in force since last August.
Smoking prevalence among Singaporeans has also been fluctuating between 12 and 14 per cent in the last 10 years, “with no clear pattern of sustained decline”, although more than 2,000 Singaporeans die prematurely from smoking-related diseases yearly, the MOH added.
Furthermore, the social cost of smoking in Singapore is “conservatively estimated” to be at least S$600 million a year in direct healthcare costs and lost productivity, it said.
The move to rework the packaging came after eight years of deliberation referencing more than 200 studies, and three rounds of public consultations between 2015 and 2018.
Besides changes to the Tobacco Act, legislative amendments will also be drafted to preserve the legal position for tobacco-related trademarks under the Trade Marks Act and tobacco-related designs under the Registered Designs Act.
Once the laws come into effect, Singapore will join a growing number of countries, including Australia, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the UK, which have mandated standardized packaging for tobacco products.
Following Wednesday’s announcement, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said that Singapore’s move “affirms its status as a global leader on tobacco control and protection of health”.
Plain packaging for tobacco products is one of the recommendations of the United Nations’ agency under its framework convention on tobacco control.
SMOKERS, TOBACCO FIRMS DOUBT MEASURES WILL WORK
Smokers interviewed by TODAY are largely indifferent about the measures though.
A 26-year-old — who did not want to give his name or profession and who smokes once every two weeks when he goes drinking — said that he is not sure if it makes a difference. “Smokers aren’t drawn to the packaging and they sure aren’t misled about the harmful effects.
“If anything, it seems like a cosmetic approach to the problem, literally.”
Agreeing, public relations executive Fahim Zohari — who picked up the habit five years ago and smokes three to four packs a week — said that he does not buy cigarettes for the packaging or the aesthetics.
The 28-year-old added that smoking helps him cope with the stress he faces at work and to integrate socially.
TODAY has reached out to the Tobacco Association of Singapore for its comments on the proposed changes.
A representative from a tobacco firm, who did not want to be identified, said that many tobacco companies are surprised by the announcement, because they had highlighted — when being consulted on the matter — that this plain packaging policy had not been effective in the few countries where it is in place.
In Australia, for instance, sales did not fall drastically, there is no clear evidence that people kicked their smoking habit as a result, and illegal tobacco trade had been on the rise, he told TODAY.
He added that the authorities were also made aware of how retailers would find it more tedious to do stock-taking and identify the right product consumers want.
A director of a mini-mart chain which has 15 stores, and who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, said that such a problem will be compounded because some of his workers who are not native English speakers and might not be literate will find it harder to identify the products without the logos, for example.
The 33-year-old also told TODAY that he is feeling “suffocated” because his mini-marts are still reeling from the changes to laws in the past few years, starting from the 2015 ban in sale of alcohol products from 10.30pm, followed by the tobacco product display ban and the raised minimum legal age for smoking to 21 last year.
“We are not trying to advocate smoking, but (the authorities) need to take into consideration that mini-marts are finding it hard to cope (with all the changes)… The regulations kept coming and coming. We need some time to breathe,” he said.
Both Mr Tan and the tobacco company representative said that the authorities should hold more consultations with tobacco suppliers and retailers to work out more realistic expectations on what could constitute plain packaging before the laws are passed.
They also would like to be given a better defined timeline to anticipate changes before such laws take effect.
Tobacco firm Philip Morris Singapore, which gave its views to the Government during the public consultation process, said that it supports “evidence-based policies that protect public health”, to prevent people from starting to smoke cigarettes and encourage them to quit.
“We also remain hopeful that as scientific evidence on smoke-free products develop, policies will be adopted to accelerate the Government’s smoking control efforts, by allowing adult smokers the opportunity to switch to less harmful alternatives,” its representative said.
