Halth lobby group Quit has called on the federal government to force the tobacco industry to use plain packaging for cigarettes.
Quit said removing logos, colours and attractive imagery from cigarette packs could help curb the enormous toll of smoking on the Australian community.
The British government this week released a package of tobacco control proposals that, if accepted, will mean tobacco companies will be obliged to sell cigarettes stripped of corporate logos and colours.
Quit executive director Fiona Sharkie said the British proposal for plain packaging reflected a global recognition that tobacco packs are advertising which lures potential new smokers into buying cigarettes.
"These colourful and clever new cigarette pack designs, which are constantly entering the market, represent a deliberate marketing strategy to recruit young people to smoke,'' Ms Sharkie said.
"Any government with an emphasis on preventative health care will understand the importance of plain packaging on cigarettes, especially given the tobacco industry's own admission that the job of the cigarette pack is to attract the attention of the customer and create a desire to purchase and try.''
Ms Sharkie said Dunhill had recently produced cigarettes packaged in a pop-up box in a range of vivid colours, with words like "mellow'', "exotic'' and "dynamic'' on the lid to describe the taste.
"In some instances the eye-catching colours of the packaging appear to have been matched with the graphic health warnings on the front, diluting the powerful images and ensuring they blend into the pack,'' she said.
Ms Sharkie said cigarettes packs should be an unappealing proscribed colour and shape without logos, texts, trademarks or attractive decorative or design features.
Full colour graphic health warnings should feature on at least half of the front of the packet.
About 15,000 Australians die of a tobacco-related disease every year.
http://www.bilingualpackaging.com
