New decision from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry: Tobacco content will now be written on cigarette packs

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has introduced a requirement for hookah tobacco product packaging to state the tobacco content percentage, while also banning the use of colorants.

The "Regulation on Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Production, Labeling, and Inspection of Tobacco Products," prepared by the Ministry, has been published in the Official Gazette and has entered into force.

According to the statement made by the Ministry, new measures have been taken with the regulation to prevent the promotion and encouragement of tobacco products and to combat the illicit trade of tobacco products.

It will be mandatory to write the tobacco content ratio on packages of hookah tobacco products. Necessary infrastructure preparations are being carried out to monitor this requirement.

Production date and coding information will be written on the inner packaging of hookah tobacco products. These packages cannot be cylindrical in shape.

The content of coding information on cigarette packs will be expanded to ensure tracking and monitoring. Information such as the production line and machine number, as well as the shift number, along with a minimum "day/month/year" coding, has been made mandatory for cigarette packs, while a minimum "day/month/year" coding has been made mandatory for other tobacco products.

To ensure tracking and monitoring, production date information on tobacco product packs will be required in at least a "day/month/year" format.

In an effort to prevent the promotion and encouragement of tobacco product use, the use of colorants in the production of hookah tobacco has been banned, and it has been mandated that cigarette filters must be cylindrical in shape.

Companies operating in the sector have been granted a transition period until March 31, 2025, to bring their products into compliance with the regulations. After this date, products that do not conform to the changes will not be allowed on the market.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, whose views were included in the statement, stated that regulations were made in the regulation to resolve problems encountered in practice and to add certain necessary elements.

Pointing out that the regulation includes provisions aimed at effectively combating the trade of unregistered tobacco products and preventing the promotion and encouragement of the use of tobacco products, Yumaklı noted the following:

"Following the previous amendment made to the Turkish standards, which are among the technical regulations that must be complied with in the issuance of certificates of conformity for market supply, it has become necessary to make an amendment to harmonize the regulations in the '(TS) 13444 Cigar and Cigarillo Standard' with the relevant provisions of the regulation."

In this vein, we are implementing a number of regulations regarding the production methods and market supply of tobacco products through a regulatory amendment published in the Official Gazette.

We are establishing an effective tracking mechanism to prevent informality in the tobacco product trade and are eliminating certain incentive elements."