The Parliament of Georgia adopted a set of amendments to the tobacco control legislation in May 2017 (Law No. 859-IIს), which foresaw the introduction of plain packaging for tobacco products. However, its implementation was postponed to 31 December 2022 through an amendment published in July 2017 (Law No. 1278-RS).

On 16 May 2022, the Government approved the Technical Regulations on Standardization of Tobacco Products and their Packaging for Sale in Georgia (Resolution No. 257), which will enter into force on 31 December 2022. With the approval of this regulation, by 1 January 2023, Georgia joins the group of those countries that have already implemented plain packaging.

The regulation will apply to all types of tobacco (including filtered and unfiltered cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, smokeless tobacco, tobacco intended for hookah, roll your own tobacco, and heated tobacco products as well) except for e-cigarettes.

The Regulations determine what manufacturers must comply with, for example, the color, material, shape, size and opening of packaging and the inscriptions and signs required on it. It also regulates the characteristics of the cigarette butts, such as the color of the paper utilized and of the paper or material used to cover the end of the cigarette.

As one of the Parties that received support from the Convention Secretariat in the first phase of the FCTC 2030 project from 2016 to 2022, the Government of Georgia has shown commitment to strengthening implementation of the WHO FCTC. Georgia has used the WHO FCTC as a guide to coordinate whole-of-government and whole-of-society actions to achieve its tobacco control objectives. Georgia has been steadily increasing taxes on tobacco products in line with Article 6 of the WHO FCTC and its guidelines, worked to improve its tobacco control law and to fight the tobacco industry that continues to undermine any policy initiatives.

For more information, contact Dr Lela Sturua, WHO FCTC Focal Point in Georgia (lela.sturua@ncdc.ge).