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What do the new cigarette packaging laws mean?

Cigarettes will be sold in standardised packets (credit: ASH)
Cigarettes will be sold in standardised packets (credit: ASH)

In November, some of Britain’s biggest tobacco firms lost their legal fight against plans for new plain-packaging rules. That decision in the Court of Appeal means that from May 20 standardised cigarette packaging will be compulsory in the UK. We look at how it may affect smokers.

What will the new packets look like?
Packets will have no branding or logos and must be of uniform colour and shape.
Picture health warnings must take up 65 per cent of the front and back of every packet.

Will there be any wording?
Promotional messages on packets such as “is less harmful than other brands” are banned, and they will contain Government mandated information.

Will any packet sizes be outlawed?
Packets of 10 cigarettes and pouches of tobacco smaller than 30g are no longer allowed, as they do not have enough room for health warnings

How much will they cost?
The cheapest packet of cigarettes will cost £8.82 as part of the efforts to try and discourage smoking.

Will shops have to throw out unsold ‘illegal’ packets?
Firms and shops have a year to get rid of their old stock – after that, they will face penalties for selling packets that flout the laws.

How about flavoured cigarettes?
The ban includes some flavoured tobacco and cigarettes – including fruit, spice, herbs, alcohol, candy and vanilla.Menthol cigarettes will be banned from May 20, 2020, with the gradual phasing out beginning next month.

Will it have an impact?
If the measure has the same impact that it had Australia then, experts suggest, as many as 300,000 in the UK will quit smoking.

And what about vaping?
Vapers will also have new laws governing their use. These are:

  • Refillable tanks must have a capacity of no more than 2ml

  • E-liquids can not be sold in quantities of more than 10ml

  • E-liquids can not have a nicotine strength of more than 20mg/ml unless registered as a medicine

  • E-liquid packaging must be child-resistant and tamper evident

  • Additives such as colouring, caffeine and taurine are banned

  • All e-cigarettes and e-liquids must be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

  • They will also face stricter labelling requirements