From January 2020, cigarette packages sold in Belgium will all have neutral packaging, The Brussels Times reported.

The adoption of neutral packaging for tobacco products was announced earlier, but no start date was set. The change affects cigarettes, rolling tobacco and tobacco for use in water pipes, as well as cigarette papers and filters, the report said. From 1 January, all such products will be sold in greenish-brown packaging, with no sign of the familiar branding. Retailers will have until the end of 2020 to clear stocks of old, non-compliant packaging.
According to the report, Belgium is the fifth European country to introduce neutral packaging, after France, Norway, the UK and Ireland. In 2012, Australia was the first in the world to make this change. “In countries where neutral packaging has been introduced, the number of smokers has dropped significantly,” Federal health minister Maggie De Block was quoted as saying.