Plain packaging for cigarettes has been proposed for the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf region countries by 2016, according to regional news accounts that cited a prominent UAE tobacco control official.

Wedad al Maidour, head of National Tobacco Control at the Ministry of Health, said the price of cigarettes should be doubled and warnings increased to cover 70 per cent of the pack, according to reports by Gulf News and the Khaleej Times.
Plain packs should be enforced in all Gulf Cooperation Council countries by 2016, according to accounts quoting Wedad and posted on the newspaper websites. The GCC countries are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.