Cigarette packs will be labeled in a new way in Ukraine. The Ministry of Health fulfills the instructions of the European Commission

Author:
Liza Brovko
Date:

The Ministry of Health will soon update the labeling of cigarette packages in order to fight against smoking and to implement the guidelines of the European Commission on the way to joining the EU.

The Ministry of Health writes about this.

The agency informed that it had approached progressive countries to collect text and pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs. Among them, those that showed the greatest effectiveness were chosen.

For the final version, warnings from Canada, Australia and Thailand were taken as an example, as well as from two non-governmental organizations: Vital strategy and "Tobacco-free children".

  • Ukraine has been labeling cigarette packages since 2012, and since 2006 it has joined the World Health Organization Convention on Tobacco Control. Data from the State Statistics Service show that from 2008 to 2020, the prevalence of smoking among Ukrainians aged 12 and over decreased by 36%.
  • In December 2021, the Verkhovna Rada prohibited the sale of strong and flavored cigarettes, and also limited the sale of electronic devices. Along with this, the law prohibited the advertising of tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and their liquids and obliged manufacturers to increase the area of medical warnings about negative health consequences.
  • From July 2022, the smoking of electronic cigarettes and devices for heating tobacco in public places has been banned in Ukraine.
  • This year, the antimonopoly committee opened a case against the manufacturer of IQOS, which allegedly lied to consumers that these devices have less health risk compared to cigarettes, but did not provide confirmation of this information.