Canada Passes Plain Packaging Law For Tobacco Products
Holographic Cohiba bands and ornate boxes of Punch and Partagás are most likely a thing of the past—in Canada anyway. The country’s Parliament passed Bill S-5 on May 16, which gives the Health Canada organization regulatory authority to implement plain and standardized packaging on tobacco and vaping products, including premium cigars.
Although the bill does not lay out a specific plan for implementation, some of the proposed measures include standardized color, standardized type-face and standardized packaging completely devoid of any stylized branding elements (other than stating a brand name), promotional colors, logos, crests, embossments or gilding of any kind. The plain package rules will extend to both cigar boxes and cigar bands.
Bill S-5 is an amendment to overhaul Canada’s Tobacco Act, a law passed in 1997 to regulate the manufacture, sale, labeling and promotion of tobacco products.
Now that the bill has passed Parliament, it awaits royal assent. The laws take effect 180 days after finalization.
Health Canada is a government organization responsible for Canda’s public health.
