煙草在線據郵報在線報道編譯　　南部非洲各國反對實施力度更大的迫使它們推行煙草產品平裝的煙草立法。

　　南非煙草協會（TISA）的首席執行官費朗索瓦·凡·德爾·莫威說，包括贊比亞在內的各國，對日益增長的推行侵犯現行合法商標的卷煙包裝立法的發展趨勢感到擔憂。

　　烏克蘭和洪都拉斯正在恢復一項在世界貿易組織提出的爭端，這項爭端對澳大利亞推行關于煙草產品外觀與包裝的所謂“平裝”要求的法律提出了投訴。

　　澳大利亞的這項立法將重要的商標限制也列入其中，還要求煙草產品以在煙盒正反面都帶有大幅圖片健康警語的標準橄欖綠包裝出售。

　　但凡·德爾·莫威說：“任何通過限制合法產品的商標權，超出了教育公眾關于煙草危險性的必要措施，都有在未來數年內，引起很多非預期后果的風險?！?/p>

　　他說：“極端的立法，例如像澳大利亞的標準化包裝的立法，將使得區分煙草產品變得困難，使假冒變得更容易，從而導致非法貿易進一步增加。”

　　他解釋說，煙草產品非法貿易已經在南非地區占有相當大的比例，給整個煙草價值鏈的所有利益相關方造成了影響。

　　凡·德爾·莫威說：“因沒有以證據和科學為基礎，沒有進行過全面磋商和意見征詢的極端立法而造成的非法貿易的增加，將會對這個地區的各國帶來災難性的負面后果。”

　　“南部非洲發展共同體成員國津巴布韋、贊比亞和馬拉維都表達了圍繞極端煙草包裝立法影響的擔憂，這三個國家都已經通知世界貿易組織，它們有興趣成為烏克蘭提出的關于煙草平裝爭端的第三方。這一立場是基于煙草對它們各自國家經濟的貢獻，正是這一點，使它們拒絕成為其結果將影響它們的經濟的國際論壇的沉默參會國和毫無影響力的談判方?！?/p>

　　去年12月，澳大利亞推行了煙草平裝，而在澳大利亞的大煙草公司打輸了對這項立法提出的訴訟官司后，反吸煙施壓組織也進行了策動，以使非洲國家推行這項卷煙平裝法。

　　在南部非洲發展共同體（SADC）的15個成員國中，有6個國家種植煙草，其中包含贊比亞。而在所有5個種植煙草的成員國中，煙草是重要的出口創匯作物，對這些國家的國內生產總值有著重要的貢獻，貢獻率達3%至10%。

Zambia, Zim and Malawi Oppose Stiffer Legislation on Tobacco

　　SOUTHERN African countries have opposed stiffer tobacco legislation to compel them to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products.

　　Francois van der Merwe, chief executive officer of the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (TISA), said the countries, including Zambia, are concerned at the growing trend to introduce cigarette packaging regulations that encroach on existing legal trademarks.

　　Ukraine and Honduras are reviving a dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) challenging Australian laws that introduced the so-called "plain packaging" requirements regarding the appearance and packaging of tobacco products.

　　Inclusive of significant trademark restrictions, the legislation requires tobacco products to be sold in standardised, olive-green packs with large graphic health warnings on both sides of the pack.

　　But van der Merwe said, "Any measure that goes beyond what is necessary to educate the public about the dangers of tobacco by limiting trademarks of legal products, runs the risk of achieving many unintended consequences for years to come".

　　"Extreme regulations, such as standardised packs, as in Australia will make it difficult to differentiate between tobacco products and will make counterfeiting easier, leading to a further rise in illicit trade," he said.

　　He explained that illicit trade in tobacco products was already of considerable proportion in the Southern African region, affecting all stakeholders throughout the tobacco value chain.

　　"Any increase in illicit trade due to extreme regulation which is not based on evidence and science, and on which full consultation has not taken place, will have disastrous negative consequences for countries in the region," said van der Merwe.

　　"SADC members Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi have registered their concerns around the impact of extreme tobacco packaging legislation, with all three having notified the WTO of their interest in becoming third parties to the Ukraine dispute on tobacco plain packaging. This is on the basis of the contribution of tobacco to their economies, a point on which they refuse to be mute participants and powerless negotiators in international forums here the outcome impacts their economies."

　　Plain packaging was introduced in Australia in December last year, and there has been manoeuvres by anti-smoking pressure groups to have African countries introduce the law after the big tobacco companies in Australia lost a lawsuit challenging the regulation.

　　Tobacco is grown in six out of 15 member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), including Zambia, and in all of the five tobacco growing member states, the crop is a key export earner with a significant contribution of between three to 10 per cent to the GDP of those countries. Enditem