EFFORTS to introduce standardised packaging of tobacco in the UK may have stalled.
Following the Chantler Review, as part of a legislative process in the Westminster Parliament, and agreement in the Scottish Parliament to allow the adoption of Westminster-passed measures in Scotland, the introduction of plain packaging north and south of the border had begun to look likely.
But the proposed consultation documents did not appear as expected in April.
Some observers have suggested the government is facing a rebellion by back-bench MPs. Priti Patel MP chair of the All-Party Committee on Small Shops has written to the UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt saying the ‘blunt tool’ of plain packaging would have a significant impact on retailers.
And an increasing number of tobacco-producing countries have taken action under the disputes provisions of the World Trade Organisation.
