Plain tobacco packaging 2015. After some delays, it was announced that the law would take effect on 30 September 2017, with the sale of previously-manufactured cigarettes allowed until 30 September 2018. On 24 February 2016, the Malaysian health ministry announced that it is planning to follow Australia's example and introduce plain packaging for tobacco in the near future. In the Netherlands, Paul Blokhuis, serving as State Secretary for Health, Welfare and Sports in the Third Rutte cabinet plans to have plain packaging law by 2020. New Zealand requires tobacco products to be standardised in a similar manner to Australian requirements. Legislation and associated
Tobacco packaging warning messages 2018– Because all pictorial health warnings (PHW) used in Indonesia originally came from the 2005 version of PHWs in Thailand, on 31 May 2018, the Ministry of Health launched new PHWs, of which three depict Indonesian smokers. In Iran, a variety of warnings with graphic, disturbing images of tobacco-related harms (including a lung cancer and mouth cancer) are placed prominently on cigarette packages. Japan is the first country in Asia to enforce general warning on cigarette packaging, in force since 1972. Prior to 2005, there was only one warning on all Japanese cigarette packages. Since 2005, more than one general