Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) New Zealand

2 November 2006

ASH pleased with Associate Minister of Health Damien O'Connor’s announcement

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) congratulates the Associate Minister’s decision to introduce pictorial warnings in cigarette packets sold in New Zealand.

ASH Director Becky Freeman says, “A picture is worth a thousand words. We are pleased that smokers will have the truth about tobacco printed directly on their cigarette packs.”

However, ASH believes that the implementation time given to the NZ tobacco industry is too long.

“It will be mid-2008 by the time the picture warnings hit the shops. Pictorial warnings are not a new idea. They have already been implemented in other countries and the NZ tobacco industry has the technology to print the new packets within weeks,” says Ms Freeman.

ENDS