The Canadian Cancer Society unveils progress in global tobacco product packaging and labelling policy

In its latest edition of October 2025, the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) report provides a comprehensive global overview of tobacco product labelling and packaging policies in 212 countries[1]. To measure progress since the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), particularly the provisions of Article 11 which stipulates that States adopt effective, visible, and evidence-based health warnings, the CCS assessed the size, nature, and placement of warnings on cigarette packs, including whether or not they are illustrated. The report also reviews the progress made in adopting plain packaging. The authors highlight an overall trend, despite lobbying efforts and disparities, toward the standardization and strengthening of graphic health warnings and plain packaging.. This aims both to encourage smoking cessation and to prevent its initiation, given that, according to the WHO, tobacco is responsible for more than 7 million deaths per year and affects 1.3 billion people, including at least 37 million young people aged 13 to 15.

A growing number of countries have implemented health warnings

By 2025, 140 countries will require graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, representing two-thirds of the world's countries and 66% of the global population. This figure is a significant increase compared to 2008, when only 24 countries mandated this type of warning.

130 countries require that warnings cover at least 50 % on average of the front and back of the packaging, in accordance with the recommendations of Article 11 of the FCTC; 77 countries require a size of at least 65 % of the front and back of the packaging; and 11 require a size of at least 85 %. However, 47 countries, including 39 parties to the FCTC, still do not comply with the FCTC requirement to impose a minimum size of 30 % for warnings on packaging.

Nepal holds the world record, with the law providing for warnings that cover 100% of the pack's surface, although enforcement is temporarily suspended by a legal challenge.

The international ranking places Timor-Leste and Turkey at the top, where warnings cover 92.5 % of the front and back faces, followed by Gambia, Maldives, Nepal and Vanuatu, tied with 90 % of package coverage.

Recent developments include, for example, Israel, which in 2024 adopted warnings covering 70 % of the front and back of the pack, the British Virgin Islands which now impose 60 % of coverage, or Colombia which introduced its 16th series of images since 2009, demonstrating a regular renewal of messages.

Conversely, several countries in Africa (South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, etc.), Oceania (Tuvalu, Palau, Micronesia, etc.), and the Caribbean (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, etc.) still display warnings of limited size or rely solely on text messages. The United States, which has not ratified the UNFCCC, imposes only text warnings unchanged since 1984, the effectiveness of which is particularly limited due to the small size of the warnings, their placement, and the absence of images. Multiple attempts to update the law have consistently been blocked and delayed by legal challenges from manufacturers..

These warnings typically combine graphic images that directly depict the real health effects of smoking with accompanying text messages about the risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory illness. Health warnings may also address the effects on pregnancy, secondhand smoke, and other issues such as the pain experienced by loved ones, and may direct users to smoking cessation services. The studies cited in the report highlight the effectiveness of this approach: the combination of images and text improves comprehension and promotes smoking cessation, particularly in countries with low literacy rates. A pack of cigarettes handled approximately 20 times a day exposes a smoker to 7,300 visual reminders per year, representing numerous repeated opportunities for raising awareness.

In addition, the measure plays a preventive role with regard to non-smokers, particularly young people, in order to break the attractive aspect of the product.

The 2025 report highlights that health warnings are among the most cost-effective and efficient measures to reduce tobacco consumption.

The larger the warning surface area, the greater the impact on risk perception and smoking reduction.

The introduction of plain packaging is also on the rise

Plain packaging eliminates all forms of advertising on cigarette packs and other tobacco products, retaining only the brand name in a standardized font, accompanied by health warnings and qualitative information about the ingredients. This measure pursues a threefold objective.

First, strengthen the effectiveness of health warnings, ensuring they are not diluted within a promotional marketing environment. Second, prevent manufacturers from circumventing these warnings by falsely claiming that certain packaging and products are less dangerous than others. Finally, prevent young people from becoming exposed to harmful substances by eliminating the use of packaging as an advertising medium.

Since its initial adoption by Australia in 2012, the plain packaging measure has gradually spread to 27 other countries that have adopted and implemented it, 3 states that apply it indirectly through their links with countries applying the measure (Monaco, Cook Islands, Isle of Man) and 14 others that have announced their intention to implement it (Chile, Ivory Coast, Hong Kong, Laos, Panama, Russia, Togo…).

The report underlines that the generalization of plain packaging is now an irreversible global trend, supported by robust scientific evidence highlighting its effectiveness in terms of prevention, informing consumers and those around them, and encouraging cessation.

The need for combined and strengthened approaches in the face of global industry lobbying

In addition to graphic warnings and neutral packaging, several countries are experimenting with complementary approaches designed to strengthen the impact of warnings.

A pioneer in this area, Canada had already been requiring warning stickers inside cigarette packs since 2001 to encourage people to quit smoking. Since 2024, the country has also mandated messages printed directly on each cigarette, such as "Smoking kills." Australia has implemented similar measures since 2025.

Furthermore, some countries are extending health warnings to other tobacco and nicotine products: the European Union, through its Directive 2014/40/EU, mandates health warnings, particularly on the packaging of electronic cigarettes and e-liquids, leaving Member States the option of extending the same requirements to other categories; countries such as Israel, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have implemented packaging and labeling restrictions for e-cigarettes and e-liquids; some European countries, as well as Canada and Colombia, similarly require health warnings on nicotine pouch packaging.[2], and Denmark mandates plain packaging for nicotine sachets[3].

These developments reflect a desire to make the health message omnipresent, both outside and inside the pack, and to counter the marketing strategies of the tobacco and nicotine industry.

The Canadian Cancer Society report concludes that a three-pronged approach is needed: the continued increase in the number of countries adopting large graphic warnings, combined with the rapid expansion of plain packaging and the growing alignment of national legislation with full implementation of all provisions of the FCTC, will be a key step towards a tobacco-free generation.

This strong recommendation comes at a time when, according to the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025, The tobacco and nicotine industry, for its part, is waging a global offensive to delay or weaken public health measures..

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[1]Cision Canada, More countries are requiring plain packaging for tobacco products and graphic health warnings on cigarette packs., Published on November 18, 2025, accessed the same day

[2]Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Global Issues - Nicotine Pouches, Updated on October 15, 2025, accessed on November 14, 2025

[3]Grilo G., Carrington D., Hartmuller R., Albuquerque B., Muggli M., Welding K., Global regulatory scenario for nicotine pouches, Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and International Legal Consortium, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, published October 6, 2025, accessed November 14, 2025

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