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https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-cigarette-warning-labels-1.6860301 Canada to put health warning labels directly on cigarettes in world first New cigarette packaging restrictions and warning images will also be introduced Adam Miller · CBC News · Posted: May 31, 2023 9:05 AM MDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago Health Canada has announced new warning labels to be printed directly on cigarettes in an effort to deter new smokers, encourage quitting and reduce tobacco-related deaths. (Submitted/Health Canada) Health Canada has announced new warning labels to be printed directly on cigarettes in an effort to deter new smokers, encourage quitting and reduce tobacco-related deaths, in a world first that experts hope will have a significant impact. There will be multiple sets of six warnings on the cigarettes themselves that will change in rotation with messages like: "Cigarettes cause cancer," "Tobacco smoke harms children" and "Poison in every puff." Health Canada will also include new health warnings on cigarette packaging, taking up a minimum of 75 per cent of the main display area of the package, and will be able to update the content of the warnings without having to change the regulations. "Having a warning on every cigarette sold in Canada is a world precedent-setting measure," said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society. "The health warning is going to be there during every smoke break, and for youth who experiment by borrowing a cigarette from a friend, they'll have exposure to the health warning there as well. I expect that many countries internationally will follow this Canadian world first." Health Canada's new cigarette-labelling regulations come into effect starting Aug. 1. (Health Canada) The regulations will begin to come into effect as of Aug. 1. Tobacco companies will be required to implement the first sets of restrictions for retail on king size cigarettes (83-85 millimetres in length) by July 31, 2024, and on regular size cigarettes (70-73 millimetres in length) by April 30, 2025. A new round of 14 picture warnings will also be required to appear on the outside of cigarette packaging by April 30, 2024, with a second new set of 14 picture warnings to appear two years later. There will also be updated messages on the inside of cigarette packages required at retail stores by April 30, 2024. The new and finalized regulations announced Wednesday were previously proposed in June 2022 as a draft regulation. Canada aims to hit less than 5% tobacco use The federal government's decision was announced on Wednesday on what is also World No Tobacco Day by the Associate Minister of Health and Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett, and is part of Canada's Tobacco Strategy that aims to achieve less than five per cent tobacco use by 2035. "Tobacco use continues to kill 48,000 Canadians each year. We are taking action by being the first country in the world to label individual cigarettes with health warning messages," Bennett said in a news statement. "This bold step will make health warning messages virtually unavoidable, and together with updated graphic images displayed on the package, will provide a real and startling reminder of the health consequences of smoking." Health Canada said the health and economic costs associated with tobacco use in Canada were estimated at $12.3 billion in 2017, with direct costs to the health-care system of $6.1 billion. While tobacco prevalence in Canada is currently estimated at 13 per cent nationally, Health Canada said the health-care costs due to tobacco use represent 47 per cent of all health-care costs associated with substance use in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-plain-packaging-vaping-law-1.4662112 All media are portraying this as cigarette plain packaging, but the bill quite specifically names tobacco products. I can see nothing that exempts cigars or pipe tobacco, so the end result will be devastating to the tobacconists in Canada (which I am one of).

Cuba seeks to legally challenge Australian plain packaging on tobacco products From: AAP May 06, 2013 7:30PM First step in a trade dispute which could last for years First-ever challenge from Cuba since its joined WTO in 1995 Complaint says plain packs breach intellectual property rights CUBA has become the latest country to launch a legal attack on Australia's landmark plain packaging rules for tobacco at the World Trade Organisation, the global body says. The WTO said that Cuba had requested consultations with Australia on law requiring tobacco products to be sold in identical, olive-brown boxes bearing the same typeface and health warnings with graphic images of diseased smokers. Under the 159-nation WTO's rules, requesting consultations is the first step in an often complex trade dispute settlement process which can last for several years. Given that the legislation covers all tobacco products, not just cigarettes, it has already been challenged at the WTO by Cuba's fellow cigar-producing nations Honduras and the Dominican Republic. In addition, Ukraine has filed a suit at the Geneva-based body, which oversees its member nations' respect for the rules of global commerce. All the plaintiff countries maintain that Australia's packaging law breaches international trade rules and intellectual property rights. In the event that the WTO's disputes settlement body finds in their favour, it would have the power to authorise retaliatory trade measures against Australia if the country failed to fall into line. The dispute with Australia marks the first-ever challenge by Cuba against a fellow member since it joined the global body in April 1995, four months after the WTO was founded in its current form. The legislation - passed in 2011 and brought into force last December - has won wide praise from health organisations which are trying to curb smoking. The Australian government has faced a string of court challenges from tobacco firms. Besides trade and intellectual property concerns, tobacco companies say there is no proof that plain packaging reduces smoking and have warned that the law sets a precedent that could spread to products such as alcohol. New Zealand has announced plans to bring in its own plain packaging law this year, making it only the second country in the world to do so. Original Article: http://www.news.com....4#ixzz2SYTi11zM