Plain tobacco packaging tobacco consumption”. This effort did not succeed due to trademark right concerns, specifically those related to Canada's commitments to the World Trade Organization and under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Australia, with the enactment of the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act on 12 December 2011, became the first country in the world to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging. Products manufactured after 1 October 2012, and all on sale after 1 December 2012 must be in the plain packaging. Following Australia's lead (2012) a number of other countries also require standardized packaging including France (January 2017), United
Plain tobacco packaging trade of drastically cheaper cigarettes had significantly increased, but an article in The British Medical Journal refutes this. After one year of plain cigarette packaging rule implementation, a special supplement to the British Medical Journal described that before plain packaging implementation 20% smokers want to quit, but after implementation 27% smokers want to quit. The study found that plain packaging reduces brand appeal and brand image of tobacco products. If true, this would foretell fewer new smokers taking up the habit. An analysis of Philip Morris claims that "the data is clear that overall tobacco consumption and smoking prevalence has