The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015

PART 2 U.K. Provisions which apply to cigarettes only

Permitted colour or shade of packaging of cigarettes U.K.

3.—(1) No person may produce or supply any cigarettes in breach of any of the provisions of this regulation or Schedule 1 (exceptions to paragraphs (2) and (3)).

(2) The only colour or shade permitted on or for the external packaging of a unit packet or container packet of cigarettes is Pantone 448 C with a matt finish, but this is subject to paragraph (4) and Schedule 1.

(3) The only colour or shade permitted on or for the internal packaging of a unit packet or container packet of cigarettes, is either—

(a) white, or

(b) Pantone 448 C with a matt finish,

but this is subject to paragraph (4), Schedule 1 and paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 2.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (2) or (3) prohibits any warning, statement, text, picture, image, symbol or marking which is required by any enactment (whenever passed or made) other than these Regulations [F1 or required by the Commission Implementing Regulation]; but see paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 which imposes conditions in relation to any text required in accordance with regulation 7(4)(a)(i) of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (name and address of producer) M1 .

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 3(4) inserted (20.5.2019) by The Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/594), regs. 1(1), 25(3)

Marginal Citations

M1 S.I. 2005/1803.

Material, shape, opening and contents of unit packet of cigarettes U.K.

4.—(1) No person may produce or supply any cigarettes in breach of any of the provisions of this regulation.

(2) A unit packet of cigarettes must be made of carton or soft material.

(3) A unit packet of cigarettes must be cuboid in shape, although any such cuboid may have bevelled or rounded edges.

(4) A unit packet of cigarettes may contain an opening that can be re-closed or re-sealed after it is first opened but only if that opening is a flip top lid or a shoulder box hinged lid.

(5) A flip-top lid may be hinged only at the back of the packet.

(6) A shoulder box hinged lid may be hinged only along one of the two smallest sides of the packet.

(7) The sides of a unit packet of cigarettes which is a shoulder box with a hinged lid must have a height (measured between the front and back surfaces of the packet) of at least 16 millimetres.

(8) A unit packet of cigarettes must contain a minimum of 20 cigarettes.

Appearance of cigarettes U.K.

5.—(1) No person may produce or supply any cigarettes in breach of any of the provisions of this regulation.

(2) The only colour or shade permitted on or for the paper, casing, filter or other material forming part of a cigarette (apart from the tobacco contained in it) is plain white with a matt finish, but this is subject to the following provisions.

(3) Any paper or casing that surrounds the end of a cigarette that is not designed to be lit may be coloured in such a way as to imitate cork.

(4) A cigarette may have text printed on it to identify the brand name and variant name of the cigarette but only if each of the following conditions is met.

(5) Those conditions are—

(a) that the text appears parallel to, and not more than 38 millimetres from, the end of the cigarette that is not designed to be lit,

(b) that the text does not contain any character which is not alphabetic, numeric or an ampersand,

(c) that the first letter of any word is in upper-case type or lower-case type,

(d) that the rest of any word is in lower-case type,

(e) that the text is printed in Helvetica type,

(f) that the colour of the text is black,

(g) that the text is in a normal, weighted, regular typeface, and

(h) that the size of the text is no larger than 8 point.

Further provisions about the packaging of cigarettes U.K.

6.  No person may produce or supply any cigarettes in breach of any of the provisions of Schedule 2 (further provisions about the packaging of cigarettes).