Work

Tobacco legislation reform and industry response in Israel

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: New progressive tobacco control legislation in Israel restricted advertising of all tobacco and related products, including heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes. The three main elements comprised: (1) advertising bans in all media, including broadcast, outdoor, internet and print media, but excluding newspapers (effective March 2019); (2) bans on point-of-sale displays except in specialised tobacco and alcohol outlets (effective January 2020); and (3) plain packaging (effective January 2020).1–3 During the initial implementation phase, an active tobacco control coalition communicated via social media (‘WhatsApp’) regarding tobacco industry tactics to bypass legislative efforts, test the limits of the legislation and/or test the government’s ability to enforce the legislation. The coalition included civil society and professional organisations from a wide range of disciplines, including public health, medicine, public policy, public administration and communications.3 Table 1 provides a detailed account of the policies, industry reactions and lessons learnt (also see figures 1 and 2). Figure 1 (A) Branded elements appeared in the background of the print media advertisements (red circles); January 2020. (B) When the inclusion of the small branded elements was not met with a response, the industry included the full size previous packaging in the background; March 2020. (C) Colours and fonts not allowed to be used in plain packaging, were used in print media advertisement to differentiate and overcome the plain packaging. Figure 2 (A) Before the legislation. (B) In transition—plain packaging appearing in the market, but products are visible at point-of-sale. (C) After the legislation went into effect. Note - (1) case is …

Source: Tobacco Control

DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056041