Olive-brown cigarette packs with graphic health warnings covering three-quarters of their surface became mandatory on 1 Dec, prompting a run on cigarette cases to hide the new unitary design, the Guardian reported

An increase in Internet product reviews on social networks accompanied the switch to a single packaging design for all cigarettes that also standardizes the size of brand names, the newspaper reported on its website. Australia is the first country to adopt plain packaging.
Retailers cited in the Guardian article said plain packaging has made stocking and locating product more difficult.
Tobacco companies say the plain packs will make manufacturing of illicit product easier and lead to an increase in use of illicit cigarettes.
Australia's packaging law is being challenged before the World Trade Organization (WTO) as an unfair restriction on trade. According to the Guardian, tobacco companies have paid three countries, Ukraine, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, to contest the measure before the WTO.
Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek praised the plain packs as a way to stop younger people from taking up smoking by making packaging unattractive.
Australia has one of the world’s lowest smoking rates and a further reduction in consumption there likely will have little impact on profits of international tobacco companies, according to the Guardian. (pi)