Legislation to mandate plain packaging for tobacco products will go before Parliament before the end of this year, Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia said in a statement.

However New Zealand will delay implementation until legal challenges to Australia’s plain packaging law are settled, Turia said. Those challenges are based on international trade obligations.
Last year the government said it was ready in principle to become the world’s second country to introduce tobacco plain packaging. A public consultation closed in October, and Turia made her announcement after the Cabinet on 18 Feb heard a report on consultation findings.
“The consultation process confirmed that plain packaging will be an effective means of reducing the appeal of smoking and removing the impression that tobacco may be less harmful than it is,” Turia said.
New Zealand’s proposal is expected to closely resemble Australia’s law, which for cigarettes mandates graphic warnings over most of the pack, an olive-brown colour for the remainder of the package and limits on the size of brand names. (ci)