The Senate voted final approval of a uniform packaging law for tobacco products that will strip branding from cigarette packs from May, 2016, Agence France-Presse reported.

Brand names will appear in uniformly small typeface on packaging with a standard colour and large pictorial warnings similar to in Australia, where the first plain-packaging law went into effect three years ago. The ruling Socialists and Greens backed the measure over protests from the conservative opposition, AFP said.