Canada to make plain packaging for tobacco products compulsory

Canada, following the lead of Britain and Australia, will make plain packaging of cigarettes compulsory in a bid to cut the rate of smoking, Health Minister Jane Philpott said on Tuesday. Although Canada already obliges firms to slap large graphic warning labels on cigarette packets, Philpott said more must be done, given that some 5 million of Canada's 36 million inhabitants still use tobacco products. "I don't believe tobacco companies should be allowed to build brand loyalty with children for a product that could kill them," Philpott told reporters.