pictorial warnings now required by 40 countries/jurisdictions – international summary

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There are now at least 40 countries/jurisdictions that have finalized requirements for pictorial warnings.  Some countries are now on their second, third or fourth round of pictures.
A listing of 40 countries/jurisdictions is attached as Word and pdf documents, and is pasted into the body of the email.  Many other countries are in the process of developing requirements.  The attachment also lists those countries with the largest size requirements as an average of the front and back, as well as on the front itself (given that the front is more important than the back).
If there are other countries where picture requirements have been finalized but are not on the list, it would be appreciated if you could let me know.
Cigarette Package Warning Size and Use of Pictures: International Summary
Picture warnings

At least 40 countries/jurisdictions have finalized requirements for picture warnings.  The listing below includes the year of implementation, including different years where there have been two or more rounds of picture warnings.

  1. Canada (2001)
  2. Brazil (2002; 2004; 2009)
  3. Singapore (2004; 2006)
  4. Thailand (2005; 2007; 2010)
  5. Venezuela (2005; 2009)
  6. Jordan (2006)
  7. Australia (2006; rotation of sets A, B every 12 months)
  8. Uruguay (2006; 2008; 2009a; 2009b; 2010)
  9. Panama (2006; 2009)
  10. Belgium (2006; rotation of sets 2,3,1 every 12 months starting 2011)
  11. Chile (2006; 2007; 2008; 2009)
  12. Hong Kong (2007)
  13. New Zealand (2008; rotation of sets A, B every 12 months)
  14. Romania (2008)
  15. United Kingdom (2008)
  16. Egypt (2008)
  17. Brunei (2008)
  18. Cook Islands (2008)1
  19. Iran (2009)
  20. Malaysia (2009)
  21. Taiwan (2009)
  22. Peru (2009)
  23. Djibouti (2009)
  24. Mauritius (2009)
  25. India (2009, 2010)
  26. Cayman Islands (2009)
  27. Paraguay (2010; 2011; 2012)2
  28. Latvia (2010)
  29. Pakistan (2010)
  30. Switzerland (2010; rotation of sets 1,2,3 every 24 months)
  31. Mongolia (2010)
  32. Colombia (2010)
  33. Turkey (2010)
  34. Mexico (2010)
  35. Philippines (2010)
  36. Norway (2011)
  37. Malta (2011)
  38. France (2011)
  39. Guernsey (2011)
  40. Spain (2011)

Many other countries/jurisdictions are in the process of doing so, or have stated that picture warnings are under consideration, including Bangladesh, Guyana, Iceland, Ireland, Macao, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Vietnam, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and potentially Yemen), and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM, which includes Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize,  Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia,  St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago).

For more information, visit:

www.tobaccolabels.org

www.smoke-free.ca/warnings

http://blogsofbainbridge.typepad.com/warnings/

http://tobaccofreecenter.org/resources/warning_labels

http://www.who.int/tobacco/healthwarningsdatabase/en/index.html

Ranking of Countries/Jurisdictions for Largest-Sized Cigarette Package Warnings

Note: in the first column, the two numbers in parentheses indicate the size on the front of the cigarette package followed by the size on the back of the package.

 

Size – Average of Front and Back

80%   Uruguay (80% of front and back)

65%   Mauritius (60% of front, 70% of back)

65%   Mexico (30%, 100%)

60%   Paraguay2 (60%, 60%)

60%   Philippines (60%, 60%)

60%   Australia (30%, 90%)

60%   New Zealand (30%, 90%)

60%   Cook Islands (30%, 90%)

56%   Belgium (48%, 63%, including border)

56%   Switzerland (48%, 63%, including border)

55%   Thailand (55%, 55%)

54%   Turkey (65%, 43%, including border)

52%   Finland (45%, 58%, including border)

52%   Ireland (45%, 58%, including border)

50%   Albania (50%, 50%)

50%   Bolivia (50%, 50%)

50%   Brunei (50%, 50%)

50%   Cameroon (50%, 50%)

50%   Canada (50%, 50%)

50%   Chile (50%, 50%)

50%   Djibouti (50%, 50%)

50%   Egypt (50%, 50%)

50%   Eritrea (50%, 50%)

50%   Hong Kong (50%, 50%)

50%   Iran (50%, 50%)

50%   Madagascar (50%, 50%)

50%   Panama (50%, 50%)

50%   Singapore (50%, 50%)

50%   Malaysia (40%, 60%)

50%   Brazil (100% of either front or back)

50%   Venezuela (100% of either front or back)

48%   unilingual EC countries (e.g. United Kingdom) that have

properly implemented the EC Directive (43% of front, 53% of

back, including border)

48%   Norway (43%, 53%, including border)

48%   Guernsey (43, 53%, including border)

48%   Iceland (43%, 53%, including border)

Pending

80%   Honduras (80%, 80%)

50%   Nicaragua (50%, 50%)

50%   Peru (50%, 50%)

50%   United States (50%, 50%)

Size – Front of Package

80%   Uruguay

65%   Turkey

60%   Mauritius

60%   Paraguay2

60%   Philippines

55%   Thailand

50%   Albania

50%   Bolivia

50%   Brunei

50%   Cameroon

50%   Canada

50%   Chile

50%   Djibouti

50%   Egypt

50%   Eritrea

50%   Hong Kong

50%   Iran

50%   Madagascar

50%   Panama

50%   Singapore

48%   Belgium

48%   Switzerland

45%   Finland

45%   Ireland

Notes

1 Cook Islands: Warnings are to either comply with the Australian or New Zealand requirements (which include pictures), or to require 50% text warnings with specified messages in English and in Cook Islands Maori.  In practice, packages contain pictures as required in Australia/New Zealand.

2 Paraguay: size will be 50%/40% in 2010, 50%/50% in 2011, and 60%/60% in 2012.

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