Have your say on plain packaging for cigars, pipe tobacco & other tobacco products
The government is consulting on extending plain packaging to cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products. Your voice matters — make it heard in just a few minutes.
I am a Consumer
Complete the government consultation survey — with guided support or on your own.
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ContinueTime is running out
The government consultation closes at midnight (GMT) on 1st October 2026. Have your say before it's too late.
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Plain packaging in action
Plain packaging has already been applied to cigars in other countries. These examples from Canada show how standardised packaging strips away branding, leaving only the product name and graphic health warnings — a clear indication of what the UK proposals could mean for cigars.
Cigars will vanish from shops
This will cause the immediate destruction of the cigar sector because overseas manufacturers of handrolled cigars will not package their cigars differently just for the UK market, which accounts for only 5% of their global business. They'll simply stop supplying the UK. If UK distributors were to package them especially for the UK, they would only package the best selling brands, as producing lots of different boxes for all the different brands would be prohibitively expensive. Many cigar retailers would struggle to survive.
Can you spot a counterfeit?
Even if manufacturers continued to supply the UK, and if UK wholesalers were to create their own plain packaging for some brands, you still won't be out of the woods. The prevalence of counterfeit cigars will go through the roof because nobody will be able to tell which handmade cigars are genuine, where they are really from, or when they were made.
Cigars are not like cigarettes or vapes
Available information shows that cigars are an adult-only product and do not contribute to youth adoption of smoking – yet that is the reason behind the new legislation.
About this consultation
The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking views on proposals to regulate the packaging, device appearance and retail display of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products under the new Tobacco and Vapes Act. The plans cover standardised packaging for tobacco products, cigarette papers, herbal smoking products, heated tobacco devices and vaping and nicotine products, as well as where shops can display them. The aim is to reduce the appeal of these products, particularly to children and young people.
A detailed 97-page impact assessment sets out the potential pros and cons of extending standardised packaging — already in place for cigarettes and rolling tobacco — to cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products. You can read the full impact assessment on GOV.UK - just click this link!The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 2 October 2026 and responses are made via a multiple-choice questionnaire on the government website.
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