Smoking cigarettes blog.

VicHealth is believed to have called for the move in a report to Health Minister David Davis. Premier Ted Baillieu previously has said he would take advice on smoking in alfresco dining areas from the state's main health advice authority. Several metropolitan councils have introduced smoking bans at playgrounds and sports centres, but not outdoor dining areas because of stiff opposition from traders and smokers. But the push for a blanket ban is growing and the City of Melbourne is considering a plan to make the Bourke St Mall smoke-free. City resident Rebecca Jarvis, 29, said a ban on smoking in alfresco areas would breach civil liberties.

"Smoking is a huge part of Melbourne's cultural fabric," she said. "We have a right to enjoy our vices in this state." Yarra Council tonight is expected to debate an option to slash footpath trading fees for restaurants and cafes in places such as Richmond and Collingwood if they ban smoking. A report before the council said restaurants and cafes did not support a ban because trying to enforce it with "alcohol-impaired smokers could further provoke the offender, resulting in assault and disorder". Shane McIntyre, owner of Gluttony cafe in Smith St, Collingwood, said smoking was still legal and people should have a choice. Quit Victoria executive director Fiona Sharkie said Victoria should follow Queensland and introduce a statewide smoking ban in outdoor dining areas.

"Our research shows that around seven out of 10 Victorians want a ban on smoking in alfresco areas and are also very supportive of a ban in pub beer gardens if there is a designated smoking area," she said. The Municipal Association of Victoria has also called for a statewide ban, and urged the Government to extend it to beaches, sports grounds and outside school entrances. A spokesman for Mr Davis said the minister had received submissions from several agencies and would meet the MAV to discuss the results of council anti-smoking trials soon. Rural Baw Baw Shire is the only Victorian council to ban smoking in alfresco areas so far.

Four men have been jailed for their involvement in smuggling almost five million cigarettes into the country through Dover and evading over £800,000 in duty. Transport boss John Lester, 52, was handed the longest sentence of four years. Martin O’Brien, 47, was sentenced to 16 months, Gavin Turner, 43, to 17 months and Steven Clarke, 35, to 18 months. Clarke, of Newtown, Birmingham, Turner, of Arundel, West Sussex, and Lester, of Handsworth, Birmingham, all denied being concerned in the evasion of duty, but were convicted last month. O’Brien, 47, of Harborne, Birmingham, admitted the charge on the first day of the trial.

Freight haulier Sean Mullins, 49, of Birmingham, was acquitted by direction of Judge Michael Carroll. Maidstone Crown Court heard O’Brien was driving a lorry found to have the huge illicit cargo collected in Belgium in the back. The Tony Lester International Transport lorry arrived at Dover Docks in January 2010 by ferry from Dunkirk. Customs officers found 104 empty meat crates in the lorry. Thirty-two palettes contained 4,928,240 Gold Classic cigarettes.

The duty evaded was £837,160. Judge Carroll told the four: "I have to deal with this as a professional piece of behaviour because of the duty evaded alone." He told Lester: "Suffice it to say I regard you as the most heavily involved of the four of you in the dock. I accept you were not at the top of the organisation. "But you were an organiser and recruited the other three. I have no idea what your remuneration was going to be."

Big Tobacco has launched an aggressive fight back against the plain packaging law. The curbs on Australia’s $9.5bn-a-year smoking market do not pose much of a threat to profits. But the bigger worry is that, just as the ban on smoking in public places spread from California across the world, Australia’s move could spread to the $161bn cigarette market in the European Union and beyond. Some analysts even raise the possibility that emerging markets could implement similar laws, giving Big Tobacco even more of a problem. “Obviously there’s a possibility other countries will follow,” said Michael Prideaux, director of corporate affairs at British American Tobacco (BAT), who described the move to plain packaging as part of “the de-normalisation of tobacco”.

A person familiar with internal discussions at Philip Morris International (PMI), the world’s second biggest publicly listed cigarette company by sales, said: “This is the alpha and the omega as far as tobacco companies are concerned.” The European Union is considering introducing plain packaging as part of proposed revisions to tobacco regulation expected later this year. In the UK, the Department of Health is due to publish the results of its consultation on plain packaging in the spring. Battle lines are already being drawn. In the UK Imperial Tobacco, BAT and Japan Tobacco (JTI) have helped form a libertarian-style campaign group called “Hands Off Our Packs”. It urges supporters to say no to “more Nanny State diktats”. “Our fundamental argument is that people are informed and should be allowed to make an adult choice,” said Paul Williams, head of corporate affairs at JTI. “The ban could make its way to alcohol and obesity.” JTI, PMI and the Australian arms of BAT and Imperial all launched legal challenges within days of the Australian law being passed last November by the federal parliament in Canberra.

They argue the plain packaging law breaches the Australian constitution, will cost taxpayers billions in lost excise duty, and will be a boon for cigarette smugglers. They say there is no evidence it will lower smoking rates. Australia’s high court is expected to hear the cases in April. But privately all the tobacco companies are preparing for life after plain packaging. In particular, they are considering how to market different cigarette brands which look alike. “Word-of-mouth will become more important,” said Mr Prideaux. “We will have to differentiate on products differently [than in the past] ... probably more on taste, to give consumers something they want to talk about.” There is growing concern among Big Tobacco that price wars could follow. “Without brands how do you charge a premium?” said Peter Nixon, vice-president of communications at PMI. “We assume brand choice going forwards will be about price ... we will see prices going down so we are likely to see revenues going down.” Last year, PMI published an internal study, seen by the FT, in which it projected the average price of cigarettes falling by up to 19 per cent if plain packaging was implemented as companies compete on price.

The cost would be heaviest in emerging markets, where companies are trying to persuade new middle class consumers to trade-up to premium brands. Jonathan Fell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said that while he was not worried about a reduction in short-term smoking rates, the ability of tobacco companies to achieve premium prices would be questioned. “It’s clearly something investors will be concerned with if it’s implemented,” he said. “I don’t think there’s massive amount of difference in developed and developing economies in terms of regulation. As countries like Brazil and South Africa have done in the past, they would normally be pretty quick to catch on and implement what others have done.” Publicly, the companies are confident of winning their court cases in Australia. If the courts force the government to back down, they hope it would set an example to other governments considering plain packaging laws. Alex Parsons, director of corporate communications at Imperial, said he does not believe there will be an immediate “domino effect”. “I think others will wait and see how it plays out in Australia,” he said.