Imperial may challenge changes

TOBACCO FIRM ‘SHOCKED’ BY HEALTH CANADA’S PROPOSED PACKAGE REGULATIONS

Imperial Tobacco says Health Canada’s proposed plain packaging regulations for cigarettes are confusing and warns it may have to go to court if changes aren’t made.

Eric Gagnon, head of corporate and regulatory affairs at Imperial Tobacco Canada, says his organization is “shocked and confused” by the proposed regulations.

“There’s a number of provisions that are basically impossible to comply with,” Gagnon said Monday.

Health Canada published its draft regulations last week and opened a 75-day consultation period for people to provide written submissions on its proposed changes to cigarette packages, which aim to make them drab, unattractive and unappealing to youth.

The proposed measures would also restrict how brand names are displayed and would require all tobacco packages to be the same colour.

“We still cannot understand how this government can justify legalizing marijuana while imposing such extreme measures on tobacco products. We feel that the discrepancy is really astonishing,” said Gagnon.

One of the regulations Gagnon is taking issue with is a proposal to axe flip-top packaging and return to old-school “slideand-shell” packs — a change that would take at least two years because of a need to build new machines to retool for a new format.

Meanwhile, he said, Health Canada is asking tobacco companies to comply with the new regulations six months after they come into force, a deadline he called “impossible.”

According to Health Canada, requiring every pack of cigarettes to have the same shape, size and opening could minimize their appeal to young people.