. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/TBT/N/NZL/62 
24 July 2012  
 (12-4043) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Notifying Member:  NEW ZEALAND  
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:   
 
Ministry of Health 
PO Box 5013 
Wellington New Zealand Email:  tobacco@moh.govt.nz  
Website:  http://www.health.govt.nz  
 
Name and address (including telephone 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 applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Chapter 24 - Products 
containing tobacco. Packaging for sale of any product that contains tobacco, and is 
manufactured to be used for smoking, sucking, ch ewing or snuffing; and/or the appearance of 
any such tobacco product. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Proposal to introduce 
plain packaging of tobacco products in New Ze aland: Consultation Document (25 pages, in 
English).  
6. Description of content:  The consultation document sets out in general terms the 
Government's proposal for plain packaging of tobacco products, including a formal statement 
of its policy objectives. It summarises the rationale for the plain packaging proposal, 
including how it arises from New Zealand's domestic and internati onal policy commitments 
for tobacco control; introduces  the separate Regulatory Impact Statement that forms an 
integral part of this consultation; and summaris es the international research and evidence base 
relating to plain packaging.  
The consultation document also poses a number of  consultation questions designed to elicit 
responses to the key issues. G/TBT/N/NZL/62 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  The 
policy objective of the proposal to introduce pl ain packaging of tobacco products is to further 
reduce the ability of the tobacco industry to ma rket tobacco products, and in particular, to 
prevent tobacco promotion and advertising from occurring on tobacco products and tobacco 
product packaging, in order to:  
-• reduce the appeal  of tobacco products and smoking,  particularly for young people; 
-• reduce the wider social acceptance and approval of smoking and tobacco use; 
-• increase the noticeability and effectiveness of mandated health warning messages and 
images; and 
-• reduce the likelihood that consumers might acquire false percepti ons about the harms 
of tobacco products. 
Combined with the existing package of tobacco  control measures, this specific objective 
contributes to the broader objec tive of improving public health by: 
-• discouraging people from taking up sm oking, or using tobacco products; 
-• encouraging people to give up smoki ng, and to stop using tobacco products; 
-• discouraging people who have given up sm oking, or who have stopped using tobacco 
products, from relapsing; 
-• reducing people's exposure to  smoke from tobacco products; and 
-• supporting New Zealand to meet its intern ational commitments and obligations under 
the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco  Control (FCTC), particularly in 
relation to the guidelines developed to su pport implementation of Articles 11 and 13. 
The purpose of this consultation process is to provide the public, the health sector, non-
governmental organisations, bus iness interests an d New Zealand's trade partners the 
opportunity to comment on the proposal, and have their views considered before the 
Government decides whether or not to proceed . Should the Government decide to proceed 
with plain packing legislation/ regulation following this consultation, the detail of such 
measures will be notified in accordan ce with relevant WTO obligations.  
8. Relevant documents:   The consultation document Proposal  to introduce plain packaging of 
tobacco products in New Zealand and the accomp anying Regulatory Impact Statement.    
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
 
 
 
  
Proposed date of entry into force:   }Not applicable. The result s of this consultation 
period will inform the Government's decision on whether to proceed with plain packaging of 
tobacco products. If a decision is made to 
introduce a plain packaging regime, further notifications would be made, as appropriate, to provide Members the opportunity to comment on the development of detailed regulatory 
provisions. 
Not applicable. 
10. Final date for comments:  5 October 2012 
11. Text available from:  National enquiry point [ X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addres ses, if available of the other body:    
http://www.health.govt.nz/c onsultation/plainpackaging