France to Introduce Plain Packaging for Cigarettes

The French government proposes plain packaging of cigarettes to bring down the number of smokers.

French Health Minister Marisol Touraine on Thursday said that plain packaging of cigarettes will be made compulsory under law in the coming months.

The plain packaging with be of the same size and color for all companies and the cigarette brand will be written in small letters. The packets will also carry graphic health warnings.  The company also cannot put any logos on the packs.

The proposals are aimed at reducing smoking rates in teenagers.

"In France, 13 million adult's smoke every day, and it is getting worse," Touraine said. "The number of smokers is growing, especially among young people," she said, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The French government also plans to ban smoking in cars with children less than 12 years of age and also in areas frequented by children, reports Reuters.

It will also ban e-cigarettes in certain public places and its advertisements by 2016.

Touraine said that the broad range of measures intended to turn out  France's first generation of non smoker's by mid 2030s. Presently, around 30 per cent of the French population smokes.

"We have set an ambitious goal: to succeed in making children born today the first 'non-smoking' generation in 20 years," Touraine said, reports Reuters.

Meanwhile, Tobacco companies criticized the new proposals, Thursday .

"Plain packaging amounts to theft of intellectual property and we will be reviewing our legal options," said a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco Group PLC reacting to the proposal.

A spokesman for British American Tobacco PLC said that the proposed laws were perplexing. They also put the European Union in danger due to   trade wars and legal complexities around the World Trade Organisation, he said, reports The Wall Street Journal.