Japan
Japan’s Finance Ministry will consider requiring tobacco packaging to display more prominent warnings on possible negative health impacts caused by smoking.
The ministry’s advisory panel will start discussions to explore possibility of imposing stricter rules on tobacco firms such as expanding the area on tobacco packaging carrying warning messages.
The ministry plans to have the related law revised as early as this year following a study by the panel, which will compile an interim report in May or June after hearing opinions from experts and the tobacco industry.
The move comes as other countries adopt stricter rules on tobacco warnings, with Australia requiring tobacco packaging to show confronting images of the effects of smoking on the body, along with verbal warnings and no branding. The Japanese government currently requires tobacco packaging to display warnings using 30% or more space of their main surface.