Plain tobacco packaging (including design and symbol) with the consumption of tobacco. It also aims to remove an available avenue of brand advertising for cigarette companies. Australia was the first country in the world to introduce plain packaging, with all packets sold from 1 December 2012 being sold in logo-free, drab dark brown packaging. There has been opposition from tobacco companies to plain packaging laws, some of which have sued the Australian government. Since the Australian government won the court cases, several other countries have enacted plain packaging laws. Plain packaging was included in guidelines to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Plain tobacco packaging in EU countries in May 2016, the option for the Member States to introduce plain packaging. Legal scholars consider plain packaging to be consistent with primary European law and German law. The directive adopted April 3, 2014 explicitly states that 28 EU countries have the option of implementing plain packaging, a provision upheld on May 4, 2016 by the European Court of Justice as valid when dismissing a tobacco industry legal challenge. In December 2010, a UMP member of the French Parliament tabled a Member's Bill aimed at creating plain cigarette packaging. However, the bill did not pass despite ongoing