Cigarettes at the local dairy will no longer be in plain sight from today as a ban on retail displays kicks in.
New regulations, introduced under law passed last year, will require all retailers to ensure tobacco products are hidden from view.
Retailers will also be banned from referring to the sale of tobacco products in their trading names.
Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia, who is behind the ban, said last year that the law change would remove the "loophole" of tobacco displays.
"Retail displays, innocently positioned alongside everyday confectionary and sweets, are a key component of making cigarettes attractive to recruit young smokers. We're not going to tolerate this any longer."
Most dairies will have a roller door which comes down to cover the displays.
The law that introduced the display ban also allows enforcement officers to instantly fine retailers $1000 for selling tobacco to people aged under 18.
It also increases the maximum penalty for selling tobacco to underage people from $2000 to $10,000.
A series of tax rises - with more on the way - has made New Zealand cigarettes among the most expensive in the OECD.
But last week tobacco giant Philip Morris started an aggressive fightback against tobacco regulations, saying they go too far.
The company, which has the third-largest share of the New Zealand tobacco market, is distributing cards to shops directing customers to a website through which smokers can have their say on the regulations.
The firm has also set up a website to allow the public to show their opposition to the restrictions.
Sydney University professor of public health Simon Chapman said Philip Morris had run a similar campaign website in Australia, but the number of responses it generated was "embarrassingly small".
He said the verdict of a tobacco industry court challenge to plain packaging was awaited.
The director of Action on Smoking and Health, Ben Youdan, said statements on the Philip Morris website were "feeble and pathetic".
An example was that the new retail display ban on tobacco products would inconvenience smokers by slowing down their purchases.
Surveys had found smokers generally supported tighter control of tobacco, he said.
Otago University researchers said last month that 65 per cent of 1300 surveyed smokers supported tighter regulation of tobacco companies.
And while 68 per cent of smokers in a 2007/8 survey said the tobacco tax was "too high", 59 per cent of them said they would support increases in the tax if the extra revenue went towards promoting healthy living and supporting quitting.
Marketing expert Professor Janet Hoek has said her research indicates plain packaging is very likely to work.
"We've got very strong research evidence that plain packaging makes smoking very unattractive to young people and young adults," Professor Hoek said.
- Martin Johnston, NZ Herald
