Plain brown and green-coloured tobacco packaging, with a new array of images showing the health consequences of smoking, are set to be on shelves from March next year.
Associate Health Minister Nicky Wagner and Māori Party co-leader Marama Fox made the announcement on Thursday, revealing how the new packaging will look.
The images on the Ministry of Health website show nothing except for the product's brand name in a generic font will reveal which cigarettes are which.
Bold black text on a yellow background dominates the top of the packaging, accompanied by a picture of a body part that's been affected by smoking. These images are larger than the ones currently on tobacco packaging.
"More than 5000 New Zealanders die of smoking-related illnesses each year - that's about 14 people per day, or more than one every two hours," Ms Wagner says.
"Standardised packaging, along with the existing suite of tobacco control measures and stop smoking services, is the logical next step toward our Smokefree 2025 goal."
Ms Fox says: "The bland packs will maximise the impact of health warnings and cut out any false impression that smoking is cool or glamorous.
"This will make a real difference to our whanau and communities who witness the harm smoking causes every day."
The new packs will roll out from 14 March 2018.
Newshub.
