13 May 2014
The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that between 50-60% of printable areas on cigarette packs must have pictorial warnings depicting the risk of smoking. The ruling fell short of the Ministry of Health’s decision to order 80% of the pack to carry the proposed health warnings. The Appeal Court gave the 50-60% ruling whilst dismissing the petition filed by Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) challenging the Government’s special gazette notification on 8 August, 2012 requiring the manufacturer to cover 80% of the surface of the cigarette packet with graphic warnings.