Israel

The law requires health warnings on all unit packaging of tobacco products.

The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to warnings on unit packaging.

Although the law does not contain a definition of “outside packaging and labeling,” the law is interpreted as requiring health warnings on both unit and outside (e.g., carton) retail packaging. Order No. 5673-2002 (as amended) updated the contents of the health warnings to appear on tobacco product packaging, and established different warning contents for unit packaging and outside packaging. The health warning “Smoking Kills” is required on all outside packaging.

The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to warnings on outside packaging.

The law requires that the warnings be written in Hebrew on the front principal display areas and in Arabic on the rear principal display area.

The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to warnings in the principal languages of the country.

The law does not affirmatively require that warnings or messages not be placed where they may be permanently damaged or concealed when opening the pack. In fact, for tobacco products other than cigarettes, the law permits the warning to be “printed on or affixed to the front of the wrapping.” This suggests that the warning could be placed on a discardable wrapper for tobacco products other than cigarettes.

To align with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines, the law should affirmatively require that warnings may not be placed where they may be permanently damaged or concealed when opening the pack.

The law does not prescribe where the tax stamps may be placed, nor does it explicitly state that health warnings may not be concealed by tax stamps or other required markings.

To align with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines, the law should state that tax stamps and other required markings may not be placed where they may conceal health warnings or messages.

The law does not require qualitative constituent and emissions messages. Although one of the prescribed health warnings states: “Warning! Each cigarette introduces 43 carcinogens into your body”, it is important that this or a similar message is displayed on each tobacco product package in addition to the prescribed health warnings.

To align with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines, the law should affirmatively require qualitative (descriptive) constituents and emissions messages and prohibit the display of quantitative yields of emissions as such figures can be misleading to consumers.

The law does not prohibit the display of figures for emission yields.

To align with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines, the law should affirmatively require qualitative (descriptive) constituents and emissions messages and prohibit the display of quantitative yields of emissions as such figures can be misleading to consumers.

As of January 8, 2020, plain packaging is required for all tobacco products, excluding cigars and pipe tobacco sold in specialty tobacco shops.

The law aligns with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines in that it restricts text and prohibits the use of logos, brand images, color, etc. on packaging.

The law prohibits the use of text, names, trademarks, graphic descriptions, or other markings on tobacco product packaging that imply that the tobacco product is less harmful than other tobacco products. In addition, the law prohibits the use of the following terms: “light,” “ultra light,” “low tar,” and “mild.” The prohibition applies regardless of whether the terms are translated to Hebrew or Arabic and applies to terms similar to them, derived from them, or having a similar meaning.

The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to misleading terms, descriptors, and other signs.