All cigarettes in Thailand to be sold in identical dull packaging starting September 12th

Bangkok-

Photo Credit: Thaiger

Noting that tobacco companies have started complying with Thailand’s Standardised Packaging Regulation two weeks ahead of the required deadline, the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance is commending Thailand being the first country in the ASEAN Region and Asia to usher in standardized tobacco packaging.

 

Starting September 12, 2019, with a 90-day full phase-out of old cigarette stocks by December 12, 2019, all cigarettes in Thailand must be sold in drab brown-coloured packs with cigarette brand names printed in a standardised font type, size, colour, and location, without brand colours or logos.

 

The new standardized packaging complements Thailand’s pictorial health warnings, which occupy the upper 85% of the front and back panels of packs, currently the largest in ASEAN.

 

“We congratulate the Thai government for this important public health milestone and urge the Ministry of Public Health to strictly monitor compliance and impose penalties on tobacco companies that do not abide by the new law,” said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of SEATCA.

 

Standardized packaging reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, eliminates tobacco packaging as a form of advertising, and increases the noticeability and effectiveness of pictorial health warnings. More importantly, this also reduces youth initiation to tobacco use by restricting the tobacco industry’s ability to market to young people, encourages quitting among current tobacco users, and helps prevent ex-users from relapsing.

 

Thailand joins 15 other countries that already require standardized tobacco packaging, namely Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland, Hungary, New Zealand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Canada, Uruguay, Slovenia, Belgium, and Israel. At least 13 other countries are in varying stages of introducing standardized packaging laws.

 

Singapore will be the second ASEAN country to implement this important tobacco control measure. Its Tobacco Regulations 2019 require that all tobacco products (including cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, beedies, anghoon and other roll-your-own tobacco products) must fully comply with standardised packaging starting July 1, 2020.

 

“Implementing this life-saving measure contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Singapore and Thailand have blazed a path that neighboring ASEAN countries must follow,” said Dorotheo.

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/all-cigarettes-in-thailand-sold-in-drab-packaging-starting-september-12

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SOURCEThe Thaiger
Adam Judd
Mr. Adam Judd is the Co-owner of TPN Media since December 2017. He is originally from Washington D.C., America, but has also lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and Portsmouth. His background is in retail sales, HR, and operations management, and has written about news and Thailand for many years. He has lived in Pattaya for over nine years as a full-time resident, is well known locally and been visiting the country as a regular visitor for over a decade. His full contact information, including office contact information, can be found on our Contact Us page below. Stories please e-mail Editor@ThePattayanews.com About Us: https://thepattayanews.com/about-us/ Contact Us: https://thepattayanews.com/contact-us/