煙草在線據The Grocer報道編譯　　雪茄制造商們擔心，如果政府繼續進行煙草包裝的平裝計劃，他們將被迫與卷煙和手卷煙遵循相同的法規。

　　到目前為止，雪茄還沒有被列入正在進行的政府協商，業內人士認為它們應該能繼續被特殊對待，因為如前關于平裝的討論重點是阻止年輕人吸煙。雪茄和斗煙的消費者皆為成年人，且斗煙也沒有包括在討論范圍內。

　　然而，供應商對The Grocer表示，他們估計強大的反煙游說組織會發出呼吁，要求將雪茄包括到立法中。

　　斯堪的納維亞煙草集團英國公司市場部主管艾倫·格雷厄姆（Alan Graham）向The Grocer表示，制造商會歡迎愿意支持將雪茄排除立法之外的零售商，但他擔心健康游說組織會極力反對。

　　“你能看到，在煙草展示禁令的最后一輪磋商中，有2500人反對禁令，還有43000名來自反煙游說組織的人士表示支持，”他說。

　　平裝法案對于雪茄制造商來說，需要面對的最主要問題是其知識產權被侵犯，而不是有出現假冒產品的風險，這情況與卷煙市場相反，格雷厄姆補充道。假冒雪茄和偽造包括罐裝在內的雪茄包裝，并沒有多大的市場，因為仿制是極其困難和昂貴的。

　　上個月開始的磋商，將持續到7月10日。

UK: Cigar Makers Seek to Avoid Plain Packaging Legislation

　　Cigar makers fear they will be forced to follow the same regulations as cigarettes and rolling tobacco if the government goes ahead with plans for plain packaging.

　　So far, cigars have not been included in the ongoing government consultation, and the industry believes they should continue to be treated differently as the curent debate around plain packs is focused on stopping young people taking up smoking. Cigars and pipe tobacco, which is also not included in the consultation, are mainly bought be older customers.

　　However, suppliers told The Grocer they expected a significant number of calls from within the powerful anti-tobacco lobby to have cigars included in legislation.

　　Manufacturers would welcome the support of retailers willing to argue for cigars not to be included, Scandinavian Tobacco Group UK marketing head Alan Graham told The Grocer, but he feared the health lobby would shout louder.

　　"When you look at the last consultation on the display ban there were about 2,500 responses against the ban and 43,000 from the anti-tobacco lobby," he said.

　　The main concern for cigar makers around plain packaging would be intellectual property rights rather than the risk of counterfeiting, which is a bigger problem in the cigarette market, Graham added. There is less of a market for counterfeit cigars and the packs, which often include tins, would be difficult and expensive to replicate.

　　The consultation, launched last month, will run until 10 July.