WMA Resolution on Plain Packaging of Cigarettes, e-Cigarettes and Other Smoking Product
Adopted by the 63rd WMA General Assembly, Bangkok, Thailand, October 2012,
reaffirmed with minor revision by the 217th WMA Council Session (online), Seoul, South Korea, April 2021
The WMA reaffirms its Resolution on Implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and emphasizes the importance of this global mechanism to protect people from exposure and addiction to tobacco and tobacco products such as nicotine.
The WMA also reaffirms its statement on e-cigarettes and the recommendation that these products be subjected to local regulatory approval and be entrenched in smoke free laws.
The WMA recognises that :
- Cigarettes offer a serious threat to the life and health of individuals that use them, and a considerable cost to the health care services of every country;
- Those who smoke predominantly start to do so while adolescents;
- There is mounting evidence that e-cigarette use predicts initiation of the use of traditional tobacco products among young people and/or non-smokers, and of additional health risks from the use of e-cigarette products.
- There is a proven link between brand recognition and likelihood of starting to smoke;
- Brand recognition is strongly linked to cigarette packaging;
- Plain packaging reduces the impact of branding, promotion and marketing of cigarettes and e-cigarette products.
The WMA strongly encourages national governments to support the introduction of initiatives that break brand recognition, including plain packaging of cigarettes, other tobacco products, and e-cigarettes and deplores strategies from the tobacco industry to oppose the adoption and implementation of such policy.