The groundbreaking step of introducing plain packaging for all tobacco products has now been completed by Saudi Arabia. The regulation issued by the Food and Drug Authority has now entered into force. This policy makes Saudi Arabia the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean to pass such regulation, bringing it in line with the requirements of Article 11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and its guidelines. Saudi Arabia is Party to the Convention since 9 May 2005.

The comprehensive set of efforts as part of which the regulation for plain packaging targets the full implementation of the Convention. In 2018, Saudi Arabia was organizing a national campaign against tobacco use. As part of the campaign, Saudi Arabia updated its tobacco legislation and regulations in November 2018, delegating the authority of further regulating tobacco package labelling to the Food and Drug Authority. The latter has then issued the plain packaging regulations in December 2018, which entered into force in August 2019.

For more information on this policy, please contact Saudi Arabia’s WHO FCTC focal point, Luluwah Mohamed Alghamdi, International Relations Coordinator (lmghamdi@moh.gov.sa).