Imperial hits out at plain package plan

Embassy maker Imperial Tobacco yesterday slammed UK plans to forcefirms to sell cigarettes in plain packaging and claimed the move would fuel illicit trade.

The group said Government proposals for generic packaging would make it easier for counterfeits and smugglers.

Bristol-based Imperial added that there was "no credible evidence that young people start smoking or adult smokers continue to smoke because of tobacco packaging".

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"We remain strongly opposed to the plain packaging of tobacco products," it said.

The UK would be the first country to introduce a plain packaging rule, which could see current designs scrapped in favour of plain packs with the brand name in text.

But the Department of Health stressed the plans were at a very early stage.

Imperial yesterday said in a trading update that the UK cigarette market had increased by 1 per cent in 2009, with 45.5 billion

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cigarettes sold, while the fine cut tobacco market grew by 21 per cent to 4,650 tonnes.

Its average share of the market remained largely steady at 45.2 per cent.

The group's brands include JPS, Davidoff, Lambert & Butler and Golden Virginia.