Turkey: Tobacco Products Getting Plain Packs

Continuing Turkey's drive against the health risks of smoking and tobacco, all tobacco products and cigarettes sold in the country will bear plain, standard packages starting Thursday.

The new rule aims to eliminate the attractiveness and misleading features of packages with various colors and graphic designs and to boost the deterrent effect of health warnings, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said in a statement.

The new packages will have one color with a standard formation of brand names and other necessary information, but no logo or other distinctive marks.

Picture warning labels -- including 14 new warning labels -- will cover 85% of the packages, which will all feature the 171 hotline to help people stop smoking.

Information about tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide release values will be removed from the packages.

Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli that the measure aims to deter people from consuming tobacco products and cigarettes.

"We introduced a uniform package to ensure that our young people do not have access to attractive packages," Pakdemirli told reporters in Azerbaijan's capital Baku before attending the 6th Agricultural Ministers meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur -