Australia’s state and federal health ministers will ban fruit- and chocolate-flavoured cigarettes, saying they were used by tobacco marketers to lure children into smoking.

The agreement came at the Australian Health Ministers' Conference in Melbourne on 18 April, along with an accord to step up regulation of the tanning industry.
Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said she would also ask Customs Minister Bob Debus to ban the importation of flavoured cigarettes. "Each state and territory is going to take steps to make sure that these cigarettes, which are targeted towards children, are about enticing children to smoke, will not be available for sale,'' Roxon said.
Some governments, including New South Wales and South Australia, have already banned the sale of flavoured cigarettes. (pi)