Plain tobacco packaging referred to the Health Committee for consideration which reported it back to Parliament with minor amendments on 11 August 2014 including a change in title from ‘Plain Packaging’ to ‘Standardised Packaging’. The Bill was stalled due to concern over legal action against the Australian government’s plain packaging regime. However, in February 2016, Prime Minister John Key commented that there was now firm legal ground for plain packaging and that the measure could become law by the end of 2016. On 30 June 2016, the Bill was given its second reading with consideration by the Committee of the Whole House on
Plain tobacco packaging one year (until 1 July 2018) to transition to the new standardised cigarette packages and smokeless tobacco boxes. Since 2017, the National Assembly has discussed draft Law 136 on plain packaging. The bill proposes that the color of the packs be dark matt gray and that the mark be presented in white Arial font, size 20, highlighted in bold. Panama ranks second in having the lowest prevalence in the world of consumption, since only 6.4% of adults in the isthmus smoke. Anti-smoking group New Vois Association of the Philippines favored the introduction of plain cigarette packaging in the Philippines as