Philip Morris hits at UK over plain packs Philip Morris International, the world's biggest cigarette company outside China, has attacked the credibility of the UK's Department of Health in its public consultation over whether to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products. A report commissioned by the maker of Marlboro and Benson & Hedges - seen by the Financial Times - said the DoH's cornerstone study on plain packaging, failed to provide evidence that it would reduce smoking rates and relied on studies that were "not reliable, rigorous, high quality ... and [contain] unrepresentative samples." The comments, in a report by the US-based consulting company Compass Lexecon, represent unusually strident criticism from a big tobacco company and come after Alison Cooper, the chief executive of FTSE 100 Imperial Tobacco, criticised the DoH for being "anti-business" last month. They indicate widespread tobacco industry worries that the UK could soon follow the example of Australia, where all tobacco products are due to be sold in identical drab packs with standardised brand names and carrying large health warnings later this year. The DoH report by the Public Health Research Consortium, a network of researchers funded by the DoH, is the largest government report to date into the efficacy of plain packs in reducing smoking rates. Professor Gerard Hastings, one of the report's authors, said: "Just over three dozen studies were identified and these show that plain packaging can help smokers in three ways: by increasing the prominence and effectiveness of health warnings; by making the pack, and thereby smoking, less appealing and removing the confusion about relative harm which pack design can cause." Separately, Philip Morris has also released a study by academics at Transcrime, a criminology research centre based in Milan, which warned plain packaging would make counterfeiting cigarettes easier and could lead to an increase in tobacco smuggling into the UK. "We don't think plain packaging would reduce smoking rates and would just lead to an increase in the black market for cigarettes," said Philip Morris. So far only Australia has passed legislation on plain packaging. The government is fighting a series of legal battles with tobacco makers, who accuse it of illegally confiscating their brands. The policy is also being considered in the EU. British American Tobacco described the DoH's evidence for introducing plain packs as "limited." "We are very concerned therefore that this evidence base and consultation impact assessment process falls short of standards that would normally be required before policy should be considered, let alone implemented," said BAT. DoH said the government would remain "impartial" on plain packs until it finishes its consultation in July.