Plain packaging in Uruguay
No eye candy
Uruguay will require plain tobacco packaging starting January 2020 to discourage smoking, Uruguay’s Public Health Minister Jorge Basso said on Monday.
The announcement follows a 2016 court ruling against Philip Morris International which had sued to throw out a bill demanding plain packaging.
“Justice, in this case, ruled in favor of the bill,” said Basso, noting that “prevention and the promotion of healthy habits are the leading concerns of public policy on matters of health.”
Since the government’s anti-tobacco campaign was launched, the smoking rate in the country has fallen from 25 percent among those aged above 15 in 2009 to 21.6 percent in 2017.
