Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority has said that all tobacco products will have to be sold in standardized packaging effective May 1, according to a Compelo story relayed by the TMA.
Under the law, the brand and product names will have to appear in a standard color and font.
The Authority has issued a model standardized pack to help manufacturers and importers prepare for the introduction of the new requirements.
It said the move was aimed at encouraging people to quit tobacco use by reducing the attractiveness of tobacco products and restricting the use of tobacco packs as advertising and promotional vehicles.
Tag: Saudi Arabia
Saudi opts for plain packs
Tax hit on Saudi smokers
The price of a pack of cigarettes doubled for Saudi Arabian smokers yesterday as the kingdom imposed a first-time tax measure to help fill the revenue hole caused by a drop in oil revenues, according to a Channel News Asia story.
Residents of the world’s biggest oil exporter were said to have long enjoyed a tax-free and heavily subsidized existence.
But a collapse in crude prices since 2014 had sparked cutbacks and a search for new revenue.
The ‘selective tax’, effective from Sunday, raised the price of tobacco 100 per cent, to 18-24 riyals (US$4.80-6.40) per pack.
Saudi Arabia’s imposition of the new tax follows an agreement among the six Gulf Co-operation Council nations and is said to be in line with International Monetary Fund recommendations.
Haia cracks down on smokers in Saudi Arabia
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) is cracking down on people smoking shisha in public places, according to a story in the Arab News.
Arab News recently visited a public park in Wadi Namir, Dariyah region, and found numerous people smoking shisha. This irritated many people who were at the park with their families and feared the shisha they were being exposed to was harmful to their health.
After authorities received numerous complaints about shisha smoking in the park, members of Haia visited the park to prevent people from smoking. The organization confiscated shisha pipes and required smokers to sign written statements saying they would not smoke shisha in public.
According to reports, it costs an estimated SR80,000 to SR250,000 to treat a person with cancer caused by smoking, and treating tobacco-related diseases has cost the Kingdom SR10 billion over the past 25 years.
