Plain tobacco packaging firms were worried the Australian plain packaging legislation might set a global precedent. In July 2012 it was reported that the American lobbying organisation American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) had launched a worldwide campaign against plain packaging of cigarettes. With the backing of tobacco companies and other corporate interests, it was targeting governments planning to introduce bans on cigarette branding, including the UK and Australia. Tobacco companies were also reported to have provided legal advice and funding to Ukraine and Honduras governments to launch a complaint in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the grounds that the Australian legislation is
Plain tobacco packaging A few days later, the Federal Council said it was opposed to this, saying such a measure "goes too far". In September 2011, "Bloomberg" reported that the Turkish government was working on plain packaging regulations. An Istanbul-based newspaper, "Milliyet", reported that under the proposal all branding elements would disappear and cigarettes would come in "numbered black boxes" excluding any imagery other than health warnings. In November 2016, Health Minister Recep Akdağ stated that Turkey will "introduce plain packaging where the brand of cigarettes will almost be invisible and sellers will be obliged to store the cigarettes in closed cases instead