A health warning must be printed on every cigarette sold in Australia under tough new laws aimed at eradicating smoking.
Under tobacco regulations, warning messages including “poison in every puff”, damage your lungs”, “cause 16 cancers”, “shorten your life” and “toxic addiction” must be printed on all cigarettes by April of 2025.
“We will be one of the first countries in the world to include this new public health measure, with the aim of educating but also discouraging smokers from using this deadly product,” explained Health Minister Mark Butler when announcing the legislation on last year.
The regulatory guidelines were published in October 2024 and gave manufacturers five months to meet the April 2025 deadline.
Butler said retailers will have a three-month transition period, from April 1 to the end of June next year, to phase out their old stock.
But industry sources told the Daily Telegraph that manufacturers will need more time to be able to revamp their supply chains in time to produce the new cigarettes required by the government.
If manufacturers fail to meet the deadline, Australia could face a situation where legal cigarettes are not available in stores.
National Senator Matt Canavan warned the government there was a “clear and understandable risk” of people turning to illegal cigarettes as a result of the legislation.
Manufacturers will have until April 2025 to print warning labels on every cigarette stick sold to comply with new government regulations.
“If the supply of legal tobacco is disrupted, people would turn to illicit tobacco,” he said last week on Senate Estimates, while questioning Department of Health Secretary Dr. Liz Develin.
‘Speeding up the implementation of this, perhaps not allowing manufacturers to respond in time could lead to increased use of illicit tobacco.
“One of the main reasons organized crime is well funded in this country is that illicit tobacco is very, very lucrative.”
Theo Foukkare, chief executive of the Australian Convenience Store Association, said they supported the government’s initiative but warned the timeframe was unrealistic.
“If a message were printed on a cigarette butt, it is something feasible, but we have to reconfigure it,” Mr. Foukkare said. The daily telegraph.
‘Retailers will not be able to purchase compliant products until their suppliers can provide them.
“It’s not about saying we don’t want to do this, it’s about saying we can’t do it on schedule.”
Australia has followed the Canadian government, which introduced warning labels on cigarette bars in August 2023.
Manufacturers in Canada had until July 2024 to print the messages on all king-size cigarettes and until April 2025 to print on regular cigarettes and small cigars.