On 5 December 2018, Turkey came on board of countries to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging.
All tobacco packaging (and bottle hookahs) –whether manufactured in Turkey or imported-are required to be plain and standardized, i.e removal of all branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks), permitting manufacturers to print only the brand name in a mandated size, font and place on the packaging in addition to the health warnings with a graphic size to cover 85% of packaging.
Likewise, the brand name on cigarette packs will be printed only one side and cover no more than 5% of this surface. The same rule also applies to boxes of tobacco products that contain more than one pack.
Effective Date / Grace Period
Retailers were given seven months (until 5 July 2019) to transition to the new standardised cigarette packages. This period can be further extended by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry up to 6 months.
Meanwhile, implementing rules and regulations including but not limited to labeling requirements will be published within one month (until 5 January 2019).
Legislation
Tobacco control legislation in Turkey is mainly based on “Law 4207/1996 on Prevention and Control of Hazards of Tobacco Products”. Subsequent amendments were made by a number of provisions in “Bag” Laws 5727/2008, 6354/2012, 6111/2011 and 6487/2013 and, most recently, Bag Law on 5 December 2018.
The sale of tobacco products is not allowed in health and educational institutions, culture and sports facilities and university campuses. Neither tobacco products nor their images are allowed in TV programs, movies and music videos, advertising and promotional films, cinema and theaters. This ban is also extended to all commercial or advertising purposes on the internet, social media or other environments as such.
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