Ministerial Order determining the Content and Design of Warning to be put on the Package of Tobacco and Tobacco Products


Rwanda

Ministerial Order determining the Content and Design of Warning to be put on the Package of Tobacco and Tobacco Products

Ministerial Order 34 of 2015

The Minister of Health;Pursuant to the Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda of 04 June 2003 as amended to date, especially in Articles 120, 121 and 201;Pursuant to Law nº 08/2013 of 01/03/2013 relating to the control of tobacco, especially in Article 18;After consideration, and approval by the Cabinet in its session of 20/03/2015;ORDERS:

Article One – Purpose of this Order

This Order determines the content and design of the warning to be put on the package of tobacco and tobacco products.

Article 2 – Statement on the package of cigarettes and tobacco products

Every package of cigarettes and tobacco products used for retail sale in Rwanda must:carry the statement “For Sale in Rwanda”.bear a statement of the tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide content in milligrams per tobacco product;bear the tar and carbon monoxide yield statements. The numbers must be rounded to the nearest whole number and the nicotine yield statement must be rounded to one decimal place.

Article 3 – Health warnings required on packages of cigarettes and tobacco products

Every package of cigarettes and tobacco products used for retail sale must display a health warning on the front and back panel.The following health warning text message shall be applied Kinyarwanda and English or Kinyarwanda and French comprising of not less than thirty (30%) of the total surface area of both the front and back panels and located on the lower portion of the cigarette pack or packet and shall be randomly displayed in each twelve month (12) period on a rotational basis and in as equal a number of times as is possible:“Smoking kills, causes cancer, heart diseases, and other health vices such as impotence, infertility, miscarriage and stroke”.The health warning:must be printed in black helvetica bold type on a white background, be clear and legible, not be printed in a place where it may be damaged when the packaging is opened;shall not be obstructed with other packaging and labelling marks;However, the health warning shall not be required on the transparent packaging material, if the health warning is clearly visible on the primary packaging beneath.The health warning on packages of cigarettes model is annexed to the present Order.

Article 4 – Other requirements

Every package of cigarettes and tobacco products used for retail sale must:bear such statement as to the name and address of the manufacturer;state the number of cigarettes;bear the manufacturing date or code;be affixed with a valid tax stamp or code or mark or impression as may be required by the authorities.

Article 5 – Transitory period to comply with the provisions of this Order

Every importer, distributor, manufacturer or any person dealing in tobacco and tobacco products is hereby granted a period of twelve (12) months, from the date of publication of this Order, to comply with its requirements.

Article 6 – Repealing provision

All prior provisions contrary to this Order are hereby repealed.

Article 7 – Commencement

This Order comes into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda.
▲ To the top

History of this document

29 June 2015 this version
09 June 2015
Assented to