Standardised tobacco packaging in Norway
There is a ban on import and sale of tobacco products that do not have a standardised design in Norway. Standardised design means that it is not permitted to use the manufacturer's logos, symbols, images, colours or other forms of design elements. The packaging must have a specific colour (pantone 448 C), and the brand name should be written in a standardised font.
Which tobacco products are included?
Cigarettes, roll-your-own and snus must be in plain packaging. The reason for including snus is the dramatic increase in snus use among young people in the past 10–15 years. In the same period of time, there has been an increasing amount of new snus products with varied and appealing designs on the market.
For tobacco products mainly used by older and small consumer groups, such as cigars, cigarettes and pipe tobacco, there is no requirement for standardisation. The authorities will review this exception again if the user profile should change in the future.
Health warnings
All tobacco products must be labelled with combined health warnings with text and images showing the adverse health effects. The regulation on content and labelling of tobacco products contains detailed labelling rules. Norway's regulation is based on an EU directive, and will be changed due to changes in the EU regulations, probably in 2023.
The purpose of standardised tobacco packs
The overall purpose of standardised tobacco packs is to reduce the number of young people who start using tobacco.
By limiting the packaging's advertising effect, tobacco products are made less attractive. The purpose of the measure is also to increase the effect of health warnings and minimise the risk that the package design gives a misleading impression of the health risk.
Cross-border or distance sales of tobacco and e-cigarettes in Norway
Norway is a member of the EEA and there is currently an ongoing process to incorporate the Tobacco Product Directive (2014/40/EU) into the EEA agreement. New rules and regulations regarding cross-border sales of tobacco and nicotine containing e-cigarettes in the Norwegian Tobacco Act will come into force when this process is finalized, probably in 2021.
Until new rules come into force it remains illegal to sell e-cigarettes or e-liquids containing nicotine to Norwegian customers, unless the customer uses the right to private import the product according to the legislation for pharmaceutical products. For more information regarding the legislation for pharmaceuticals please contact the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
When the new rules come into force, all e-cigarettes and e-liquid containers (regardless of nicotine content) must be registered at the Norwegian Medicines Agency. All companies planning to do cross-border sales of tobacco and/or e-cigarettes and e-liquids, to or from Norway, or distance sales within Norway, must register with the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The registration systems are currently being set up and will be announced as soon as they are available.
40 years with tobacco legislation
A variety of legislative measures have been implemented during the tobacco control legislations' more than 40 years' history in Norway. The Norwegian Tobacco Act entered into force in 1975, requiring health warnings on tobacco packagings, a 16 year age limit and a ban on advertising of tobacco products. Today Norway is still considered a country with restrictive tobacco legislation.
EU directive implemented in Norway
The EU Directive 2001/37/EC concerning the manufacture, sale and presentation of tobacco products is implemented in national legislation, and the 2014 Directive will be integrated into the Norwegian legislation in 2021. Like Sweden, Norway has an exception from the EC ban on the sale of tobacco for oral use (moist snuff).
Legislative measures
The age limit for buying tobacco is 18 years. Since 1988, there has been legal protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in workplaces, and since 2004, even a complete ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. Designated smoking rooms were banned in 2014.
To enhance the effect of the advertising ban, a ban on retail display of tobacco products was introduced in 2010. Norway's tobacco display ban was challenged in court by Philip Morris Norway, claiming it was incompatible with EEA law (freedom of trade). The case was tried in the Oslo District court in 2012, and the law was upheld by the court.
Since 2011 all cigarette packages have been required to be equipped with pictorial warnings, as well as reduced ignition propensity standards. New regulation requiring standardised tobacco packaging came into effect in 2017.
WHO tobacco convention
Norway was the first country to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (who.int), which entered into force in 2005. Norway ratified the Protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products in 2018. Norway's implementation reports are available at the FCTC website (untobaccocontrol.org).
Milestones in Norwegian tobacco control
Norwegian tobacco control policy has developed through several decades, and the tobacco Act has been revised numerous times since its adoption in 1973.
| 1965 | The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) appoints an interdisciplinary committee to investigate what measures could be implemented to combat the health problems caused by tobacco use. |
| 1967 | The committee's report is submitted: «Influencing Smoking Behaviour». Among the many suggestions were a ban on tobacco advertising and compulsory health warnings on all tobacco products. |
| 1969 | The government presents a White Paper to the Parliament supporting the committee's proposals. |
| 1971 | A governmental office for tobacco control is established; The National Council on Tobacco and Health. |
| 1973 | The Act relating to Restrictive Measures for the Marketing of Tobacco Products etc. (the Tobacco Act) is sanctioned. Monitoring of smoking prevalence is started. |
| 1975 | The Tobacco Act comes into force (advertising ban, 16 years age limit, labelling). Media campaign (large ads) in support of the new act. |
| 1985 | The National Council on Tobacco and Health presents the report «Clean Air for Everyone – The Right to Breathe Smokefree Air». It contains a proposal for provisions for a «clean air act». |
| 1988 | The Clean Air Act is adopted. It provides for smokefree air in public locations and means of transportation. However, restaurants and bars were exempted. |
| 1989 | Regulation banning new nicotine and tobacco products is adopted. |
| 1993 | Restrictions on smoking in public restaurants and other hospitality places (bars, cafes, pubs, diskoteques etc). Smoking allowed in 2/3 of the establishment. |
| 1996 | More restrictive measures in the Tobacco Act are enacted. These include a ban on smoking in open restaurants, provisions for smoke free schools, and an age limit of 18 for both sale and purchase of tobacco products. A free phone "quit-line" is established. |
| 1997 | Regulation is adopted which prohibits indirect advertising for tobacco products: «Regulation on prohibition of tobacco advertising, etc.» |
| 1998 | Further restriction on smoking in public restaurants and other hospitality places (bars, cafes, pubs, diskoteques etc). Smoking only allowed in 50% of the establishment (as opposed to the previous 2/3). |
| 1999 | A long term strategy plan for tobacco control (1999–2003) is adopted by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the National Council on Tobacco and Health. A National Cancer Plan allocates funds to provide several counties with personnel devoted to promote public health. |
| 2002 | The EU Directive 2001/37/EC concerning the manufacturing, sale and presentation of tobacco products is implemented in national legislation: ban on misleading descriptors such as «light» and «mild», larger health warnings, and a legal basis for demanding disclosure of ingredients in tobacco products. The National Council on Tobacco and Health becomes a department under the new Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs. |
| 2003 | A bill concerning a total ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, cafes etc is passed by Parliament. The first national comprehensive mass media campaign on tobacco and health for many years is run in Norway, adapted from the Australian campaign «Every cigarette is doing you damage», followed by a campaign targeting the tobacco industry. Norway ratifies the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). |
| 2004 | A total ban on smoking in restaurants and bars takes effect 1 June. Mass media campaign on the right to a smoke free workplace. |
| 2005 | The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) enters into force. |
| 2006 | «National strategy for tobacco control 2006–2010» and «National strategy on COPD 2006–2011» is launched by the Ministry of Health. Large scale mass media campaign focusing on COPD. |
| 2007 | The Ministry of Health wins a Supreme Court case concerning the smoking ban in restaurants and bars (smoking clubs). |
| 2009 | Regulations on pictorial warnings on tobacco products are adopted by the Government (in effect from 1 January 2010, with a transitional period until June 2011 for cigarettes and January 2012 for other tobacco products, except for smokeless tobacco). |
| 2010 | A ban on the visible display of tobacco products at points of sale enters into force. |
| 2011 | The Ministry of Health wins a Supreme Court case concerning the smoking ban on restaurants and bars (smoking outside). Pictorial warnings are required on cigarette packages. To reduce the risks of fire, reduced ignition propensity cigarettes are required. |
| 2012 | New mass media efforts in January and August with focus on health risks and passive smoking respectively. The Ministry of Health wins a case in Oslo District court, after being sued by Phillip Morris Norway, claiming that the tobacco display ban violates the EEA agreement. The law is upheld by the court and the ruling is not appealed. |
| 2013 | Mass media campaign in January directed towards occasional smokers. Several legislation amendments enters into force, including a ban on packages smaller than 20 cigarettes, and a normative provision on children's right to a smoke-free environment. |
| 2014 | Several legislation amendments enters into force, including a prohibition for students to use tobacco during school hours, a ban on designated smoking rooms, smoke free entrance areas outside health care institutions and government agencies. |
| 2016 | Parliament approves amendments to the legislation; plain packaging, bigger pictorial health warnings, e-cigarettes with nicotine will be allowed for sale and other amendments according to new EU directive. |
| 2017 | The Quitline is closed. Legislation on standardised tobacco packs enters into force with a one year transition period (cigarettes, roll-your-own, snus). Use of e-cigarettes is included in the smokefree legislation. |
| 2018 | Mandatory registration for places selling tobacco and tobacco surrogates (as e-cigarettes, herbal tobacco). |
Health and smoking prevalence – the situation in Norway
9 percent of people aged 16–74 smoked daily in 2020. Smoking prevalence has dropped steadily in Norway since 1998, and young people are leading the way. Prevalence rates are published by Statistics Norway (ssb.no).
Smoking prevalence
In the early 1970s, 51 percent of men and 32 percent of women (aged 16-74) smoked daily. In 2020 there was practically no difference between men and women.
Apparently there was a shift in smoking prevalence around 1998. Since then, smoking prevalence has decreased among both men and women.
In 2020, about 1 percent of young people aged 16–24 reported to be daily smokers, and practically no difference between men and women. The prevalence of young daily smokers was reduced from 12 to 1 percent in the last ten years.
Low education is the number one explanatory factor for prediction of smoking prevalence. The difference in smoking prevalence between the none- or low-educated and the well educated, elucidates the importance of considering social inequality as a health issue.
Smokeless tobacco
For several years, the use of smokeless tobacco has been strongly increasing in Norway. In the population aged 16 to 74, 13 percent were daily users in 2020.
The use of smokeless tobacco is more common among men than women. Among men, 19 percent report using smokeless tobacco daily and among women, approximately 7 percent use smokeless tobacco daily.
In the younger population, however, the prevalence is higher. Among people aged 16–24 years, 22 percent of the men are daily users and 14 percent of the women. The difference between boys and girls are much smaller today than it used to be.
Smokeless tobacco has been much more common than smoking among youth for a long time.
Deaths related to smoking
In Norway, it is estimated that about 6 300 persons die each year because of tobacco related diseases (2015).
Relevant research and resources
- Smoking, tobacco, e-cigarettes – Norwegian Institute of Public Health (fhi.no)
- Statistics on tobacco use in Norway (ssb.no)