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News:
Thailand and Saudi Arabia introducing plain packaging of tobacco products.
Important Facts:
- Both countries are the first in the Asian and Arab regions, respectively, to adopt the tough measure in order to curb tobacco consumption.
- In December 2012, Australia became the first country to introduce plain packaging following the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) guidelines
- World Trade Organisation (WTO), in June 2018, has recommended the plain packaging.
Significance of Plain Packaging:
- Plain packaging standardizes the appearance of tobacco products.
- Other than brand and product names displayed in a standard color and font style, it prohibits the use of logos, colors, brand images or promotional information. Besides increasing the effectiveness of health warnings, it reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, with no scope for using packaging to advertise and promote consumption.
- Along with higher taxes and large pictorial warnings, plain packaging can serve as a tool to deter new users and prompt existing users to quit
Packaging standard in India:
- In April 2016, India increased the size of graphic pictorial warnings, by 85%, on the packaging of tobacco products (both front and back).
- According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey 2016-2017, the percentage of users in India who thought of quitting because of such warning labels increased sharply to 62% (cigarette), 54% (bidi) and 46% (smokeless tobacco users).
- The number of tobacco users dropped by eight million
Impact of Plain Packaging:
- Plain packaging along with other measures led to 0.55 percentage point reduction in smoking prevalence in Australia.
