Myanmar is set to implement the Standardized Packaging Notification issued by the Ministry of Health on 12 October 2021. The notification will come into full effect by 10 April, followed by a 90-day phase-out of old tobacco packaging by 12 July, reports Eco-Business.

Myanmar is the third Asian country among the world's 20 that have implemented standardised packaging, after Thailand and Singapore. The new regulation requires that the outer surfaces of tobacco product packaging be a standardised dull, dark brown colour and that they be flat and smooth, with no attractive colours, designs or decorative elements. This complements the pictorial health warnings that must be printed on 75 per cent of the front and back of packaging, the report said.
Standardised packaging and pictorial health warnings are part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce tobacco use in the country. “With standardized packaging, Myanmar will be implementing a highly effective public health policy that will help denormalize tobacco use. We look forward to the full and strict implementation of this regulation and call on the government to swiftly identify and penalize any tobacco company that does not comply by the 10 April deadline,” said Dr Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance. “Standardized packaging is a cost-effective and strategic way to discourage tobacco use; it prevents the tobacco industry from using packaging to attract consumers in a creative but deceptive way. Pictorial health warnings more effectively convey to the public the dangers of tobacco use,” Dorotheo added.