G/TBT/N/NOR/23
18 May 2015 
(15-2553)  Page: 1/2
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English
 
  NOTIFICATION 
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member: NORWAY  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible: 
Ministry of Health and Care Services 
Dept. of Public Health 
P.O. Box 8011 DEP0030 Oslo Norway 
Telephone: +47 22 24 87 01 
E-mail: postmottak@hod.dep.no   
Website: http://www.hod.dep.no   
Name and address (including telephon e and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10 .1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applic able, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable): Tobacco products and 
tobacco packaging (HS: 24.02) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Draft amendments 
to the Tobacco Control Act and the Tobacco Labelling Regulations relating to Standardised Tobacco Products (72 pages, in English) 
6. Description of content: The Ministry proposes the introduction of standardised tobacco 
packaging in Norway. This proposal will apply to all types of tobacco products. 
Standardised tobacco packaging involves a uniform layout and design on all tobacco 
packaging, as well as a ban on manufacturers' logos, trademarks, images, colours or other 
forms of advertising.  
Packaging shall only have one solid colour, and some of the products will be required to 
have specific packaging materials. Bran d names and variant names, as well as 
manufacturer information, shall have standardised colour, placement, font and size. The Ministry also proposes standardisation of other elements such as barcodes, packing 
material, etc. The packaging shall retain the mandatory health warnings and other 
information in accordance with current legislation.  
The Ministry furthermore proposes that the design of tobacco products and smoking 
accessories should be standardised to a certain extent, including the colour of the cigarette 
paper and snus portions, as well as the specification of brand names and variant names. A 
legal basis for standardising the packaging of  tobacco surrogates is also proposed, but 
specific regulations are not proposed at this time. Tobacco surrogates include herbal 
cigarettes and herbal snus, among others. G/TBT/N/NOR/23 
 
- 2 - 
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable: The overarching vision of the National tobacco control strategy for the period 
2013–2016 is a long-term goal of making Norway a tobacco free society. Despite 
significant progress in the area of tobacco control in Norway, smoking continues to the 
single largest preventable cause of premature death and poor health. Snus also has harmful effects on health, and its use has increased over the past few years, especially 
among young people. A significant decline in th e number of tobacco users is therefore the 
most important measure for improving public health.  
The Ministry finds it unacceptable that such a high number of children and young people 
begin using tobacco. If we are to achieve our goal of a tobacco-free generation, and in the 
long term, a tobacco-free society, it is absolutely essential to limit the appeal of tobacco products to children and young people. 
The overarching objective of the proposal is to reduce the number of children and 
youngsters who begin smoking and using snus, in  order to protect them from the harmful 
effects of tobacco use. More specifically the objective is to make tobacco products less appealing by limiting the advertising effect of the packaging, increasing the impact of the 
mandatory health warnings, as well as minimising the risk that the packaging design gives 
misleading information about the harmful health effects of tobacco. It is assumed that the measure will also contribute toward a moderate reduction in the use of tobacco among 
adults by helping people to quit smoking and using snus, and by helping to prevent relapse 
among those who have quit. It will also have the effect of denormalising tobacco products and tobacco use. 
Research has shown that packaging design may give the false impression that tobacco 
products are less harmful to one's health than is actually the case, especially to young 
people. In the preamble of the new EU Directive, point 27 states that certain types of tobacco packaging may give the impression that the product purports benefits in terms of 
weight loss, sex appeal, social status, or qu alities such as femininity, masculinity or 
elegance. The packaging is designed to make the use of tobacco appear more attractive 
and appealing, especially among young people, and reduces the impact of the health 
warnings. Furthermore, it is well known that the appearance of various brands may have 
some importance as identity markers. It is  therefore the opinion of the Ministry that 
standardised appearance and design of toba cco packaging may be a useful and effective 
preventative measure, especially with regard to young people. 
The proposal will contribute toward fulfilling Norway's obligations as a party to the FCTC. 
8. Relevant documents:  
• Consultation paper, including draft amen dments to the Tobacco Control Act and 
the Tobacco Labelling Regulations (attached) 
• Current Tobacco Control Act: https://www.regjeringen.no /en/topics/health-and-
care/public-health/norways-national-strategy-for-tobacco-co/id451948/   
• Current Tobacco Labelling Regulations: https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/
6f67bc5af27f45ffbc111ec7d74323b3/regulations_on_the_contents_and_labelling_o
f_tobacco_products.pdf  
9. Proposed date of adoption: To be decided 
Proposed date of entry into force: To be decided   
10. Final date for comments: 90 days from notification 
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
Ministry of Health and Care Services, as listed above in point 2. 
Consultation paper, including draft amendments to the Tobacco Control Act and the Tobacco 
Labelling Regulations (attached): 
https://members.wto.org/crnattachm ents/2015/TBT/NOR/15_1975_00_e.PDF