Standardised tobacco packaging regulations released for New Zealand

Article  \  15 Jun 2017

Last week regulations standardising the packaging of tobacco products were approved by Cabinet and made available online at health.govt.nz/standardised-packaging.

The regulations come in to force on 14 March 2018, meaning that all cigarettes and tobacco products will need to be in brown/green-coloured packaging, with enlarged health warnings and brand names in a plain standardised font. There is a small 12 week window for the distribution and sale of old stock after 14 March, but from 6 June 2018 onwards only tobacco sold in standardised packaging will be available on the New Zealand market.

The Government has introduced these regulations as part of its aspirational goal to reduce the appeal of tobacco products and smoking, particularly for children and young people and see New Zealand ‘Smokefree’ by 2025.

To view more of the media release published by Government, click here.

For more detail on the regulations, click here.