Global Health Law Research Guide

Plain packaging removes color and branding on packaging for tobacco products; graphic photos and warnings of diseases caused by tobacco use are sometimes added. The WHO report Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products: Evidence, Design, and Implementation (2016) provides excellent background. (For information on other tobacco control legislation (warnings, additives, advertising, etc.), visit the Tobacco Control Laws website.)

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Adopted as World Health Assembly Resolution 56.1 and entered into force on February 27, 2005, this is the first treaty negotiated by WHO.

• Convention website
• Treaty text
• Current ratification status (with reservations noted)
• Materials from the sessions of the Conference of the Parties and the Negotiating Body provide useful background
   

Data & publications

• WHO Tobacco Plain Packaging: Global Status 2018 Update
• WHO Tobacco Plain Packaging: Global Status 2021 Update
• WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2023
• WHO health topic page for tobacco

The following jurisdictions have implemented some form of plain packaging law. Know of another? Let us know!

• Australia
  • Department of Health, Disability and Ageing: Tobacco product and packaging requirements (general information) and Tobacco legislation resources (for manufacturers and retailers of tobacco products)
  • Public Health (Tobacco and Other Products) Act 2023 and Regulations 2024
  • Court cases (these cases were combined):
    • British American Tobacco v. Commonwealth of Australia (Case No. S389/2011)
    • JT International SA v. Commonwealth of Australia (Case N. S409/2011)
  • WTO Appellate Body Report and Dispute Settlement Body Report  
  • Philip Morris Asia and Australia arbitration decision (brought under the Australia-Hong Kong Bilateral Investment Treaty (1993))
• Belgium
  • Royal Decree Relating to the Standardized Package of Cigarettes, Rolling Tobacco, and Water Pipe Tobacco (p. 47301)
• Canada
  • Tobacco Products Regulations (Plain and Standardized Appearance), SOR/2019-107, issued pursuant to the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, S.C. 1997, c. 13
• East Timor
  • While not strictly plain packaging, Diploma Ministerial No. 2/2018 (p. 15) regulates packaging in various ways (color and placement of brand; logos are allowed, but only in white). An English translation is available here.
• France
  • Decret no. 2016-334 du 21 mars 2016 relatif au paquet neutre des cigarettes et de certains produits du tabac, Texte 5, p. 37 (Decree no. 2016-334 of 21 March 2016 on Plain Packaging of Cigarettes and Certain Tobacco Products). An English translation is available here.
  • Ordonnance no. 2016-623 du 19 mai 2016 portant transposition de la directive 2014/40/UE sur la fabrication, la présentation et la vente des produits du tabac et des produits connexes, Text 27, p. 86 (Order no. 2016-623 of 19 May 2016 Transposing Directive 2014/40/EU on the Manufacture and Sale of Tobacco and Related Products). Transposes the EU directive on tobacco products into French law. An English translation is available here.
  • See also the Conseil constitutionnel Décision n° 2015-727 DC du 21 janvier 2016, Loi de modernisation de notre système de santé (Decision n° 2015-727 DC of 21 January 2016, Law Modernizing Our Health System) and Conseil d’État Décision n° 399117 du 23 décembre 2016 (Decision n° 399117 of 23 December 2016)
• Hungary
  • Decree 239/2016 (p. 11993)
• Ireland
  • Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Act 2015
  • Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Regulations 2017
  • JTI v. Minister of Health, Ireland, & the Attorney General [2015] IEHC 481
• Israel
  • Law Prohibiting the Advertising and Limiting the Marketing of Tobacco and Smoking Products (originally Law on Limiting Advertising for Smoking Tobacco Products (1983)). This page shows the legislative history of the law and includes the text of the original law as well as subsequent amendments; Amendment 7 (2019) imposed plain packaging requirements.
  • HCJ 2951/19 Smoke Free Israel Initiative v. Knesset of Israel, Israel Supreme Court (2019). An English translation is available here.​​​​​​
• Netherlands
  • Netherlands Enterprise Agency: Sales of tobacco includes general information in English about the sale of tobacco in the Netherlands, including plain packaging requirements.
  • Decree of 14 October 2015 implementing the Tobacco Act.
• New Zealand
  • New Zealand Ministry of Health: Tobacco standardised packaging provides a summary of the country’s plain tobacco packaging requirements.
  • Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Standardised Packaging) Amendment Act 2016
  • Smoke-free Environments & Related Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment 2022. This law prohibits the sale of smoked tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009.
  • Smoke-free Environments Regulations 2017
• Norway
  • Norwegian Directorate of Health: Tobacco Control in Norway includes general information in English about the sale of tobacco in the Norway, including plain packaging requirements.
  • Law amending the Tobacco Control Act (implementation of Directive 2014/40/EC and standardised tobacco packs). An English translation is available here.
  • Regulations on amending the regulation on contents in and labelling of tobacco products. An English translation is available here.
  • Swedish Match v. Ministry of Health and Care Services, Case No. 17-110415TVI-OBYF (Oslo District Court). An English translation is available here.
  • Swedish Match v. Ministry of Health and Care Services, Case No. LB-2018-4746 (Bogarting Court of Appeal). Appeal of the ruling above. An English translation is available here.
• Saudi Arabia
  • Saudi Food and Drug Authority: Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products Standard. An English translation is available here.
• Singapore
  • Singapore Health Sciences Authority: Overview of tobacco control provides an overview of tobacco control laws, including plain packaging requirements.
  • Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act (Chapter 309)/Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale)(Appearance, Packaging, and Labelling) Regulations 2019 (S 480/2019) establishes the details of Singapore’s plain packaging requirements.
• Slovenia
  • Tobacco and Related Products Restriction Act (p. 1307). An English translation is available here.
  • Rules on Uniform Packaging of Tobacco Products (p. 2652). An English translation is available here.
• Thailand
  • Tobacco Products Control Act B.E. 2560 (2017). An English translation is available here.
  • Criteria, Methods and Conditions on Tobacco Product and Cigarette Packaging B.E. 2564 (2021). An English translation is available here.
• Turkey
  • Law on Prevention and Control of Hazards of Tobacco Products, No. 4207 (1996). An English translation is available here.
  • Law Amending Some Health-Related Laws and Decrees, No. 7151 (2018).
  • Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Related to the Production Methods, Labeling and Inspection of Tobacco Products, of 1 March 2019 (p. 47). An English translation is available here.
  • Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Related to the Production Methods, Labeling and Inspection of Tobacco Products, 27 June 2019 (p. 85). An English translation is available here.
  • Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Related to the Production Methods, Labeling and Inspection of Tobacco Products, 30 June 2021 (p. 70). An English translation is available here.
• United Kingdom
  • Department of Health and Social Care: Packaging of tobacco products has general information on the UK’s plain packaging requirements.
  • Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Productions Regulations 2015
  • Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016
• Uruguay
  • Decreto 235/018 (p. 3)
  • Orden No. 696 (p. 5). An English translation is available here.
  • Ley 19.723 (p. 3). An English translation is available here.
  • Decreto 120/019 (p. 7). An English translation is available here.