The following website provides information about the Australian Government’s new tobacco plain packaging and health warning legislation, which will affect the manufacture, packaging, labelling and supply of tobacco products in Australia.
http://www.yourhealth.gov.au/internet/yourhealth/publishing.nsf/content/ictstpa#.UE6T_aT9Gcx
Tobacco plain packaging and the new and expanded health warnings are part of the Australian Government’s efforts to reduce smoking rates.Tobacco plain packaging and the new and expanded health warnings are part of the Australian Government’s efforts to reduce smoking rates.
About the legislation
The Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 and the Tobacco Plain Packaging Regulations 2011 set out the requirements for plain packaging. The legislation prohibits the use of logos, brand imagery, and promotional text on tobacco products and packaging, and includes restrictions on colour, size, format and materials of packaging, as well as the appearance of brand and variant names.
The Competition and Consumer (Tobacco) Information Standard 2011 specifies the new and expanded health warnings required to appear on all tobacco retail packaging and is an important complementary measure to plain packaging.
Key dates
From 1 October 2012:
- All tobacco products manufactured or packaged in Australia, for the Australian market, must be in plain packaging.
From 1 December 2012:
- All tobacco products sold, offered for sale or otherwise supplied in Australia must be in plain packaging and be labelled with the new and expanded health warnings.
Want to know more?
The information in the resources section below provides useful information for retailers and other suppliers of tobacco products on the plain packaging and new health warning requirements. These resources are also available in languages other than English for people from non-English speaking backgrounds.
If you are unsure of your obligations under the tobacco plain packaging or new health warnings legislation, or you are having difficulty understanding the requirements, you may wish to seek independent advice.
Resources for retailers and other suppliers of tobacco products
Fact sheet:
Overview of the plain packaging measure
Tobacco plain packaging fact sheet (PDF 1065 KB) (High resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging fact sheet (PDF 1064 KB) (Low resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging fact sheet (HTML)
Frequently asked questions:
Common questions and answers on the new laws
Tobacco plain packaging frequently asked questions (PDF 1681 KB) (High resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging frequently asked questions (PDF 1680 KB) (Low resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging frequently asked questions (HTML)
Tobacco plain packaging – a snapshot:
Outline of the responsibilities of retailers and other suppliers of tobacco products under the new laws
Tobacco plain packaging – a snapshot (PDF 2629 KB) (High resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging – a snapshot (PDF 1353 KB) (Low resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging – a snapshot (HTML)
Tobacco plain packaging – your guide:
Visual guide to the plain packaging and new health warning requirements
Tobacco plain packaging – your guide (PDF 10199 KB) (High resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging – your guide (PDF 1272 KB) (Low resolution)
Tobacco plain packaging – your guide (HTML)
Resources for people from non-English speaking backgrounds:
Information on tobacco plain packaging is available in Cantonese, French, Korean, Bengali, Arabic,Mandarin, Urdu, Farsi-Persian, Vietnamese and Hindi.These resources can be printed for convenience.
