The Australian Senate on Thursday passed a measure that would ban cigarette companies from placing their brands on packaging, according to reports.
The mandate has not been fully implemented yet, but the passage of the bill in the Senate means that it will likely become law, which would remove logos and brand colors from packaging, reports the BBC.
Packages will instead be colored a shade of olive green and will have graphic images on 75 percent of the package to warn people of the effects of smoking, similar to a law the U.S. passed earlier this year. However, Australia is the first to ban brand logos and colors on packages.
“We’re not going to be bullied into not taking this action just because tobacco companies say they might fight us in the courts,” Health Minister Nicola Roxon told the broadcaster, in reference to tobacco companies saying they would challenge the mandate in court. “We’re ready for that if they do take legal action.”
A tobacco industry spokesperson, Scott Macintyre, told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation that the government will likely spend “millions of dollars” in court fees.
“We’ve invested billions of dollars into these brands. Unfortunately, it looks like the government is pushing us down that path” of challenging the decision in court, Macintyre told the broadcaster.
