Plain tobacco packaging firms were worried the Australian plain packaging legislation might set a global precedent. In July 2012 it was reported that the American lobbying organisation American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) had launched a worldwide campaign against plain packaging of cigarettes. With the backing of tobacco companies and other corporate interests, it was targeting governments planning to introduce bans on cigarette branding, including the UK and Australia. Tobacco companies were also reported to have provided legal advice and funding to Ukraine and Honduras governments to launch a complaint in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the grounds that the Australian legislation is
Tobacco packaging warning messages requires tobacco product packaging to display pictures of the ill effects of smoking, occupying the bottom half of the display area in both front and the back side of the packaging. On March 3, 2016, Department of Health (DOH) secretary Janette Garin started the implementation of Republic Act 10643, requiring tobacco manufacturers to include graphic health warnings on newer cigarette packaging. With the Graphic Health Warning Act implemented, graphic health warnings are used on all newer cigarette packaging, and older packages using text-only warnings are required to be replaced by newer packaging incorporating graphic warnings. The 12 new warnings, showing