Competition Bureau Reaches Further Agreements with Six Cigarette Companies to Stop Using 'light' and 'mild' on Cigarette Packages

With the inclusion of the 13 brands of cigarettes affected by the agreements announced today, a total of 92 brands of cigarettes are covered by the nine agreements the Bureau has reached to date. This represents another successful effort to obtain such agreements.

In November 2006, the Competition Bureau secured agreements with Canada's three major cigarette manufacturers to voluntarily remove the descriptors "light" and "mild," and their variations, from their cigarette packaging produced after July 31, 2007.

At that time, the Bureau indicated that it would seek similar agreements from a number of smaller Canadian cigarette manufacturers who sell cigarettes described as "light" or "mild".

"We are very pleased that virtually all Canadian tobacco manufacturers have now voluntarily discontinued use of 'light' and 'mild' descriptors on their cigarettes," said Andrea Rosen, the Acting Deputy Commissioner of Competition.

Copies of all the agreements can be found on the Competition Bureau's Web site at: www.competitionbureau.gc.ca.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality services. It oversees the application of the Competition Act (http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?itemID=148&lg=e), the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act (http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?itemID=148&lg=e), the Textile Labelling Act (http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?itemID=148&lg=e) and the Precious Metals Marking Act (http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?itemID=148&lg=e).

compbureau@cb-bc.gc.ca