Long at the forefront of global tobacco control, Uruguay is leading again, becoming the first country in Latin America to require plain packaging of tobacco products.
Plain, or standardised, packages include uniform lettering and a single, drab colour for all brands. Packages have no branding elements, such as corporate logos and trademarks. ‘Plain packs’ are proven to discourage people from taking up tobacco use, particularly children and young people.
6 months for industry compliance
The tobacco industry will have six months to implement the new regulation, while health warnings will continue to take up 80 percent of the surface of tobacco packages.
Uruguay now has the world’s most comprehensive restrictions on tobacco branding, according to The Union [1]. These include ‘single presentation’ regulations, which mean that tobacco companies can only sell one variant within their brand family.