Tag: Plain Packaging

Industry Groups Push Back on Plain Packaging

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
More than 20 industry organizations signed a joint statement against Indonesia’s plans to require plain packaging for tobacco and vaping products, reports The Jakarta Post. The signatories included groups representing manufacturers, tobacco and clove farmers, labor unions, traders/retailers, creative industries, broadcasters and advertisers.
Franky Sibarani, vice chairman of the Indonesian employers’ association Apindo, noted that, given the significance of the tobacco business in Indonesia, the regulatory pressures were likely be felt in other sectors as well. The tobacco industry, he pointed out, supports millions of jobs, including farmers, workers, traders and retailers, along with professionals working in the creative industry.
“Policymakers should be cautious in issuing regulations that could threaten prolonged contractions,” said Sibarani.
Henry Najoan, chairman of the Indonesian kretek cigarette manufacturers association Gappri, emphasized that the tobacco industry is not just a business but a significant economic and cultural chain.
“The proposal for plain packaging […] will have serious impacts, as it exacerbates already excessive policies and could lead to a contraction in state revenue and employment,” he said. “Therefore, we firmly reject this regulation.”
Benny Wachjudi, chairman of the Indonesian white cigarette producers association Gaprindo, highlighted the tobacco industry’s contributions to the national economy. The industry, he said, accounts for up to 10 percent, or more than IDR200 trillion ($12.99 billion), of Indonesia’s annual excise duty collections. Plain packaging, Wachjudi warned, would boost the illicit cigarette trade.
Kusnasi Mudi, secretary-general of the National Tobacco Farmers Association, noted that tobacco cultivation alone supports 2.5 million livelihoods in Indonesia. “Tobacco is one of the national strategic commodities, but our existence is continually suppressed,” he said. “We request government protection for the 2.5 million farmers who are also struggling for their livelihoods and facing various other issues.”
Tutum Rahanta, chairman of the advisory council of the Indonesian Retailers and Shopping Center Tenants Association, said that the plain packaging proposals are impractical for all parties involved. “This regulation seriously undermines the tobacco industry at a time when the sector, from upstream to downstream, has adhered to previous regulations,” he said. “The government should focus on combating illegal cigarettes rather than interfering with legal cigarettes that comply with the law.”
Fabianus Bernadi, chairman of the Indonesian outdoor media association AMLI, said the proposed legislation would significantly impact his members’ economic viability. A recent survey suggested that in some regions, the organization’s companies derived up to 79 percent of their business from tobacco products.
September 13, 2024
Cote D’Ivoire to Require Plain Packaging

Photo: alexlmx
Cote D’Ivoire will start requiring cigarette manufacturers to sell their products in plain packaging in November.
According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), Cote D’Ivoire is the second nation in Africa to introduce following Mauritius.
“The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauds Cote D’Ivoire for joining Mauritius in bringing plain packaging to Africa,” said CTFK President and CEO Yolanda Richardson. “These new measures should serve as a reminder that countries around the world can and must take swift action to curb tobacco use, protect public health and stop Big Tobacco companies from targeting youth.”
June 5, 2024
A Spark in the Dark

Photos courtesy of Mathijs Aliet
Not all is lost for brand owners operating in dark markets.
By Stefanie Rossel
In February, the Canadian Cancer Society released a report detailing the global progress on tobacco health warnings and plain packaging, which requires cigarette manufacturers to market their products in uniform, unattractively colored packs without brand imagery and print their brand names in generic fonts.
To date, 25 countries or territories have adopted standard packaging, the most recent ones being Myanmar, Oman and Georgia. A further 14 countries are preparing legislation, and three more have it “in practice,” meaning that they import cigarettes from a country with plain packaging requirements, as happens, for example, in Monaco, which buys its cigarettes from France. In addition, the report notes, the graphic health warnings mandated by some governments are so large that they resemble plain packaging. In nine countries, graphic health warnings account for at least 85 percent of the front and back side of the pack.
Recommended in the guidelines for implementation of Article 11of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), standardized packaging is viewed by its supporters as an efficient means to reduce the appeal of tobacco products and increase the effectiveness of health warnings. By removing the visual cues that prompt existing users to purchase the product and by preventing new customers from developing brand loyalty, proponents argue, plain packaging ultimately leads to better public health.
Plain packaging is also a comparatively inexpensive intervention that can be implemented more easily than other FCTC measures, such as establishing a national tobacco cessation system. But despite abundant research since standardized packaging made its global debut in Australia in December 2012, there is still no reliable evidence that the measure achieves its objectives, as studies remain inconclusive or even contradictory. Opponents claim that the removal of branding has merely led to commoditization, causing well-established brands to lose market share to cheaper alternatives.
The Power of Word of Mouth
Mathijs Aliet
For tobacco companies, marketing products in such “dark” markets is a challenge, even more so because most of the countries that require plain packaging also ban tobacco advertising and product displays at the point of sale (POS).
A 2023 report by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission underlines the importance of the POS for the industry. In 2022, U.S. tobacco manufacturers spent more than $8.3 billion promoting cigarettes and smokeless tobacco at the POS, accounting for over 97 percent of their total marketing expenditure for those product categories.
Yet, despite the loss of conventional marketing instruments, dark markets are not lost for brand owners, according to Mathijs Aliet, founder of Square44, a brand design agency based in Bangkok. “Consumers decide if they want a product or not,” he says. “There are still needs that are fulfilled, and word of mouth is a big thing. Regulations will not stop people from talking to each other, comparing experiences and making recommendations.”
Consumers also play an essential role during the launch of new brands in dark markets, when there is zero association in the buyer’s mind. “In markets that are extremely dark, it’s often people watching people that triggers new trends,” Aliet explains. “People that meet friends that have a new product are seen as trendsetters—this is something that is hard to stop.”
Square44 operates in 20 different markets across Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and has worked for tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International, BAT and Japan Tobacco International. Due to the widespread restrictions on cigarette branding, however, tobacco jobs are “rare and few,” according to Aliet. In dark markets, Square44 has profound experience working for manufacturers of alcoholic beverages in Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia.
“Many markets have individual rules, and most face dark market challenges in various degrees,” says Aliet. “Brand support extends into different spaces—the smoke zones at airports, brand environment design, creating bespoke structural solutions or working on new product development concepts for test are areas where we support tobacco clients. Building connections to the trade or retail channels as well is an opportunity where still quite a bit of activity takes place, such as dealer events, partner get-togethers, etc. This is an example of spending the marketing budget in dark markets in the right way with entertaining, training and incentives to make them sell your brands.”
Generally, Aliet advises his clients to be proactive. Manufacturers who anticipate change can build a loyal following for their brands before any restrictions take effect.

Plain packaging is a comparatively inexpensive intervention—for governments anyway—that can be implemented more easily than other FCTC measures.
Innovation Is Key
Another strategy to sustain brand awareness is developing surrogate brands in an unrelated, nonrestricted category, according to Square44. “Back in the days in Europe, the Camel brand invented outdoor clothing to keep their brand alive beyond cigarettes,” says Aliet. “This was at that point a clever way out. The brands that survive are the ones that pay extra attention to channels or touchpoints where they are still allowed to connect.”
Surrogate brands also help with events, according to Aliet. “You can get the brand out and organize something around a smoke-infused snack or beverage that happens to carry the same name,” he says. “B2B events are largely unregulated and an important influential factor for most manufacturers that play an important word-of-mouth role. Building solutions that drive value, solve problems or address needs there are will always result in success.”
Generally, brands that survive in dark markets establish their unique identifying brand assets and elements well, observes Aliet. “Use that across touchpoints in 2D graphics, even 3D environments. Colors, shapes—anything where we don’t show brand but queue recognition is what comes to mind.”
Social media can play a role too. “Depending on the location of platform, a manufacturer might not be able or allowed to localize messaging, but we see user-generated content pick up big time, especially on social selling channels,” says Aliet. “We’re luckily not that far yet that governments are telling platforms to ban images of consumers smoking or using product. Using influencers is getting heavily restricted market by market.”
Self-regulation and brand innovation are other vital, Aliet points out. “There’s no doubt that brands should pivot,” he says. “Governments are making legislation tougher, and certain categories will most likely not survive. We see this in the energy space as well, where fossil fuels are facing a lot of negative press. The smart companies pivot and innovate beyond category—cannabis, vaping, liquid drinks—as people are still looking to fulfill a need. Brands can reinvent themselves around needs with newer solutions that appeal to a clean, next-gen lifestyle. That’s what brands must do regardless—innovate around market movements and changes in consumer preference.”
A Different POS
Depending on the degree of restrictions, the point of sale may turn from a place of communication and product variety into a wasted space. In Australia, for example, customers who want to buy cigarettes must ask the store clerk. There are no signs directing smokers to the POS, according to Christoph Moser, managing director of POS Tuning, a German company that offers POS shelf and storage solutions to customers worldwide.
According to Moser, priorities are different at a dark market POS. “In classic dark markets, product availability is getting ever more important. Shelves are equipped with sliding doors or flaps, and the opening time is limited. There is a defined time slot during which presentation and removal of a pack takes place, which makes it more important that the merchandise can be seen immediately at the time of opening. Push-feed systems are therefore essential, as they facilitate access for the salesperson.”
His company offers mechanical as well as digital systems that allow customers to take stock immediately. “This works with an indicator for the inventory or with a digital push-feed system that records inventory levels in real time and signals when stocks are too low or if there is an out-of-shelf [situation],” he says.
In many dark markets, the placement of tobacco products has changed. Instead of being displayed on the back wall of the store, as is often the case in less restrictive markets, cigarettes are placed under the counter, where they are invisible to customers. “Sixty percent of sales at petrol stations are generated with tobacco products,” explains Moser. “If displaying the products is banned or restricted, it has consequences. POS Tuning has developed specific push-feed solutions to place the vast variety of tobacco products that are usually stored in the back wall in the limited space of a counter. These solutions allow for placement of several brands in one row behind one another, meaning the same amount of product can be placed on a significantly smaller surface.”
Moser observes that many retailers in countries changing to a dark market try to put off the transition as long as possible—and are thus insufficiently prepared. “Fast and efficient solutions are required that enable the covered presentation of goods in existing shelves. We offer various retrofit kits for this,” he says.
Just like the appearance of the POS, the attitude of consumers in dark markets has changed, notes Moser: “Customers get used to this kind of [product] presentation,” he says. “In most cases, it’s a planned purchase, which means customers prefer a certain brand, which they then buy, thereby accepting other pack sizes.”
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

June 1, 2024
Plain Packaging Continues to Spread

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Legal requirements to sell tobacco products in generic, unbranded packaging continue to spread, according to a report released on Feb. 6 by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS).
The CCS report, titled Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report, details global progress on plain packaging, ranks 211 countries and territories on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages and lists the countries and territories that now require graphic picture warnings.
The report also features the new Canadian requirement for a warning on every individual cigarette. This world precedent setting measure will start to appear on cigarettes in Canada by April 2024. Australia is in progress to become the second country to adopt the measure.
“There is a strong global trend for countries to implement plain packaging,” says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the CCS, in a statement. “Australia was the first country to implement plain packaging in 2012, followed by France and the U.K. in 2016, and now more and more countries are implementing the measure. These developments are very encouraging as plain packaging is a key measure to protect youth and to reduce tobacco use.”
There are now 25 countries and territories that have adopted plain packaging, up from nine countries in 2018 and 21 countries in 2021.
The report reveals there are now 138 countries and territories that require picture health warnings on cigarette packages, an increase from 117 in 2018 and 134 in 2021. This represents 66.5 percent of the world’s population. Canada became the first country in the world to require picture health warnings in 2001.
“There is continuing progress for countries to use graphic pictures on cigarette packages to show the lethal health effects of smoking,” says Cunningham. “It is extremely positive for global public health that more than 130 countries and territories have required picture health warnings and have increased warning size and that so many are moving toward plain packaging. The international trend will reduce global tobacco industry sales and will save lives lost to cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.”
The release of the CCS report coincides with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which takes place in Panama this week. The FCTC mandates that all parties require health warnings that cover at least 30 percent of the principal display areas and at least 50 percent of the display areas.
February 6, 2024
Oman Adopts Plain Packaging

Photo: Chris
The government of Oman will require tobacco companies to sell their products in generic packaging, reports Muscat Daily
The Sultanate has become the second country in the region, after Saudi Arabia, to adopt the measure.
The World Health Organization office for the Eastern Mediterranean welcomed Oman’s action, describing it as “significant and pioneering.”
According to the health body, the step is consistent with the obligations of the states that are party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The move is also in line with the sultanate’s plans to achieve a 30 percent reduction in tobacco consumption by 2025.
Under the new rules, health warnings must cover at least 65 percent of tobacco packaging, while the brand name must be printed in a standardized font and color.
March 13, 2023
Tobacco Packaging Innovations Under Fire

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The tobacco industry has been developing innovative packaging to minimize the impact of regulatory requirements such as graphic health warnings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, according to a study published in BMJ Innovations.
Mounting restrictions on tobacco advertising have made the tobacco pack an increasingly important tool for the industry to communicate with its customers. Cigarette packs in effect act as miniature billboards for the product.
Confronted with requirements to print large health warning labels that leave less space for branding, tobacco companies have found ways to maximize and even increase the space available for marketing on packs, according to the study’s authors. Examples include inserts, sliding flip tops and butterfly panels exposing additional surfaces upon opening.
These surfaces often feature bright colors and patterns, intricate imagery, shiny and textured surfaces, and holograms to appeal to customers, according to the authors. The extra “real estate” can be used to include information about contests or marketing appeals and QR codes that lead current and potential smokers to websites that include engagement strategies.
In addition to examples of packaging innovations—which are generally legal—the authors also cite evidence of explicit manipulation of health warnings. Smokeless tobacco packs purchased in India in 2017, for example, featured blurred, stretched and tinted labels. Health warning labels on cigarette packs purchased in Pakistan in 2019 and 2020 were tinted, faded, blurred. In some instances, the background color was changed and the size of throat cancer included in the image was reduced.
The authors did not consider the possibility that some distortions might be a result of poor printing quality rather than deliberate manipulation.
To prevent the industry from developing packaging that reduces the impact of health warnings, the researchers urged lawmakers to require standardized tobacco packs in their jurisdictions.
August 14, 2022
Cote d’Ivoire Mandates Plain Tobacco Packs

Photo: alexlmx
Cote d’Ivoire has become the first country in Africa to require plain packaging on tobacco products, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK).
Pioneered in Australia, plain packaging legislation requires that cigarettes be sold in generic, uniform packaging free of colorful branding or designs. When implemented in concert with smoke-free public places, restrictions on tobacco advertising, increased tobacco taxes and warning labels on tobacco products, plain packaging is a powerful public health tool, according to anti-smoking activists.
To reduce the appeal of tobacco products, more than 20 countries have adopted plain packaging as part of a suite of tobacco control measures aimed at driving down smoking rates and preventing young people from starting to smoke.
In 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced the creation of the Anti-Tobacco Trade Litigation Fund, which provides on-request support to low-income and middle-income countries that have been sued by tobacco companies opposed to plain packaging laws.
“The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids congratulates Cote d’Ivoire on bringing plain packaging to Africa where strong action is needed to prevent a tobacco epidemic—and stands ready to support this life-saving public health measure,” wrote Bintou Camara Biyeki, director of Africa programs at the CTFK.
January 31, 2022
Report: Plain Packaging Gaining Momentum

Image: CCS
Tobacco plain packaging continues to gain momentum worldwide, according to a new report released by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) in conjunction with the ninth session of the Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Nov. 8–13. The FCTC recommends member states to consider plain packaging.
Titled Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report, the CCS study reveals that 21 countries and territories have currently adopted plain packaging compared with nine in 2018. An additional 14 countries are working to implement the measure.
“There is a strong, unstoppable global trend for countries to implement plain packaging,” says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at CCS, in a statement. “Australia was the first country to implement plain packaging in 2012, and now the pace of implementation is accelerating. These developments are very encouraging as plain packaging is a key measure to protect youth and to reduce tobacco use.”
Plain packaging includes health warnings on packages and prohibits tobacco company branding such as colors, logos and design elements. It also requires the brand name to be a standard font size, style and location on the package and the brand portion of each package to be the same color, such as an unattractive brown. Finally, the package format is standardized. Plain packaging regulations put an end to packaging being used for product promotion, increase the effectiveness of package warnings, curb package deception and decrease tobacco use.
Plain packaging has been implemented in Australia (2012), France (2016), the United Kingdom (2016), Norway (2017), Ireland (2017), New Zealand (2018), Saudi Arabia (2019), Turkey (2019), Thailand (2019), Canada (2019), Uruguay (2019), Slovenia (2020), Belgium (2020), Israel (2020), Singapore (2020), the Netherlands (2020), Denmark (2021) and Guernsey (2021) and will be implemented in Hungary (2022), Jersey (2022) and Myanmar (2022).
Plain packaging has been implemented in practice in three countries where packages are imported from a country with plain packaging: Monaco (from France), Cook Islands (from New Zealand) and Niue (from Australia). Plain packaging is under formal consideration in at least 14 countries: Armenia, Chile, Costa Rica, Finland, Georgia, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, South Korea, South Africa, Spain and Sri Lanka.
The number of countries requiring plain packaging is expected to increase even further because of the World Trade Organization (WTO) appeal decision on June 9, 2020, that Australia’s plain packaging requirements are consistent with the WTO’s international trade agreements.
The case followed an unsuccessful legal challenge to plain packaging by the tobacco industry.
There is a strong, unstoppable global trend for countries to implement plain packaging.
Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst, Canadian Cancer Society
The CCS report also reveals growing momentum for graphic health warnings. It found that 134 countries and territories now require pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages, up from 117 in 2018. This represents 70 percent of the world’s population. Canada was the first country to require pictorial health warnings in 2001.
“There is unrelenting international momentum for countries to use graphic pictures on cigarette packages to show the lethal health effects of smoking,” says Cunningham. “It is extremely positive for global public health that more than 130 countries and territories have required picture health warnings and have increased warning size and that so many are moving toward plain packaging,” says Cunningham. “The international trend will reduce global tobacco industry sales and will save lives lost to cancer and other tobacco-related diseases.”
In total, 122 countries and territories have required warnings to cover at least 50 percent of the package front and back (on average), up from 107 in 2018 and 24 in 2008. There are now 71 countries and territories with a size of at least 65 percent (on average) of the package front and back, and 10 with at least 85 percent.
November 10, 2021
Plain Packaging Impacted Smoking

Photo: Taco Tuinstra
Plain packaging has had a measurable impact on smoking rates in Australia, according to Melanie Wakefield, who heads the Center for Behavioral Research at the Cancer Council of Victoria and was also on the advisory group to government on plain packaging implementation.
Data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey estimated about 11.6 percent of Australian adults smoke daily, down from 12.8 percent in 2016 and more than half the 25 percent who smoked in 1991.
Plain packaging was not the only reform introduced to help bring down the rate, however. Taxes on tobacco were upped by 25 percent in 2010 and then increased by 12.5 percent each year from 2013 to 2020.
Nonetheless, speaking with The Sydney Morning Herald, Wakefield estimates that plain packaging accounted for about a quarter of the total decline in smoking prevalence in three years after plain packaging, leaving Australia with about 100,000 fewer smokers as a result.
Importantly, she says, it has also had an impact on youth smoking rates.
“In the last national survey, only 5 percent of secondary school students had smoked in the last week, and that was down by a third from before plain packaging.”
In December 2012, Australia became the first country to require tobacco companies to sell their products in drab olive-brown boxes stripped of branding but featuring large pictures of smoking-related diseases.
Tobacco companies challenged the move in various courts, saying it not only breached trademark laws and intellectual property rights but would also boost black market sales. Libertarians characterized plain packaging as a “nanny state” measure.
Now, 20 countries, including the U.K., Turkey, France, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ukraine, have brought in their own versions of plain packaging legislation.
July 13, 2021
Blind Test: Smokers Unable to Detect Brands

Photo: fotofabrika
When properly blinded, smokers are unable to tell apart brands of cigarettes, according to a study by the Sharik Association for Health Research and Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia that was published in JMIR Formative Research.
In 2019, Saudi Arabia implemented a law requiring cigarette manufacturers to sell their products in generic, unbranded packaging. Following the measure, smokers started complaining to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) about a perceived difference in cigarette quality. These complaints persisted for more than 90 days, starting in mid-November 2019 and continuing until at least March 2020, when the researchers started writing their manuscript.
Tobacco companies denied changing ingredients, manufacturing processes and the quality of tobacco sold in Saudi Arabia.
Smokers in the United Kingdom and Australia also complained about taste differences after their countries implemented plain tobacco packaging.
Previous studies of the matter did not find significant differences in taste, but they highlighted the difficulties of measuring this variable, which may affect the results. The main difficulty is in the method of measuring the difference between the branded and the plain-packaged cigarettes without exposing participants to the brand they are trying during the study. No previous study was fully able to blind the participants to the cigarette branding, although the senses are known to affect the taste.
Remarkably, no significant differences were seen in smokers’ ability to identify their favorite brands.
For the current study, researchers fitted each participant with virtual reality goggles accompanied by special software to alter the visual reality. In addition, the participants wore medical gloves to alter the feeling of touching the cigarettes. Then, participants received six sequences of different random exposures (three puffs) to three plain-packaged cigarettes (two from their favorite brand and one from another brand as a control) and three branded cigarettes (two from the favorite brand and one from another brand as a control).
After controlling participants’ visual and touch perceptions, no significant differences were observed in their ability to identify plain versus branded cigarettes. Remarkably, no significant differences were seen in smokers’ ability to identify their favorite brands.
The experiment convinced participating smokers that the taste of cigarettes in Saudi Arabia remained unchanged after plain packaging. Prior to the experiment, 16 out of 18 participants thought they detected a change compared to the old, branded cigarettes. After the experiment, all participants reported that they had changed their opinion and did not believe any taste differences existed between plain-packaged and branded cigarettes.
The authors note that sensory perception and sensory research are priorities within the tobacco industry because they have direct effects on commercial concerns. Sensory aspects contribute to smoker satisfaction and tobacco product acceptance, and they play an important role in controlling cigarette-puffing behavior. According to the researchers, tobacco companies have capitalized on distinct sensory preferences across gender, age and ethnic groups by tailoring products for specific populations.
May 20, 2021