The French parliament has passed a law which will see the implementation of plain packaging for cigarettes, in a move to reduce the number of smoking related deaths in the country.
Starting May 2016, the new packaging will come into effect. However, the measure has irked tobacco companies which are threatening to take legal course.
Smoking has been one of the main causes of death in France - more than 70,000 people die every year due to tobacco-related diseases, Euronews.com reported.
According to EU law, which was passed seven months ago, tobacco firms are required to show health warnings on 65% of the packaging.
Now, French health minister Marisol Touraine said that from 2016 the rest of the packaging will be of "the same shape, same size, same colour, same typeset", reported Euronews.com.
In France, one third of teenagers smoke. The health minister plans to implement measures that would see the rate of smoking related deaths come down to one in five adults over the next 10 years, reported Yahoo News.
In 2006, France banned smoking in public places which included bars and restaurants. This had caused uproar from the tobacco industry as well as smoking consumers.
In October this year, Paris had increased the penalty for dropping cigarette butts by double to €68 ($75). Annually, around 350 tonnes of cigarette butts are collected in Paris.
The package will feature the brand name in small font.
Image: Cigarette packaging to become plainer in France. Photo: Courtesy of hinnamsaisuy/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
