Starting April 2015, tobacco companies in India will have to cover 85% of both sides of cigarette packs or other tobacco products with graphics and text warnings about adverse health effects.
This will turn India into the country with the highest elements of warning on packages. The Union Health Ministry issued a notification about this on Wednesday.
About 60% out of 85% will have pictorial warnings while the remaining 25% will have textual warnings. Currently, only 40% of the packs are covered by warnings.
Health minister Harsh Vardhan was quoted by the Times of India as saying: "We have issued a notification today which will make it mandatory for tobacco companies now to devote 85 per cent space on the cigarette packs or any other tobacco products for pictorial and textual warnings against the perils of tobacco."
With the new measure, India will rank first in a list of 198 countries that carry graphic warnings about the hazards of smoking on their packs.
The changes in measures followed the release of a report 'The Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report 2014', where India was ranked 136th.
According to the new guidelines, besides the illustrations showing the negative effects of smoking, packets will also need to carry the word "WARNING" on a red background with the phrase "Tobacco causes mouth cancer" on a black background.
Places like Thailand, Australia and Uruguay require that 80% or more of the surface of cigarette packets be covered with warnings.
Implementation will take place from April 1, 2015 which will give tobacco companies ample time to incorporate the required changes to their packaging.
