UN hails Australian tobacco decision

The U.N. health agency applauded Australia's tightening of tobacco sales regulations Wednesday. World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chu called Australia's legal ruling to prohibit branding on cigarette packs in favor of drab, olive-colored packaging "landmark," and called on other countries to follow the example. "Public health enters a brave new world of tobacco control," she said in a statement. Wednesday Australia's highest court upheld the country's new plain packaging laws for tobacco products. The High Court of Australia dismissed claims by four major tobacco companies that the government illegally seized their intellectual property by prohibiting the display of trademarks on their products, The Wall Street Journal reported. Australia thus become the first country to ban logos, branding, colors and promotional text on tobacco packages, beginning in December 2012. Under the new rules, brand names will appear in a standardized type on olive-brown colored packets. Most of the front and back of the packages will contain health warnings and graphic images of the harmful effects of smoking, the newspaper said. Challenges to the new packaging requirements were brought by Japan Tobacco Inc., British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International Inc. and Imperial Tobacco Group. Those four companies combined account for approximately 45 percent of the global market, equivalent to some 5.5 trillion cigarettes a year.