Australia: Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (the Plain Packaging Act)
December 1, 2012
Australia: The Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (the Plain Packaging Act) was enacted by the Parliament on December 1, 2011 and entered into force in its entirety on December 1, 2012. This Act sets out the requirements for plain packaging and the appearance of tobacco products, the presentation of brand names and trademarks on tobacco products and packaging. Pursuant to Part 2 of Chapter 2 of the Act, the Tobacco Plain Packaging Regulations of 2011 were issued to provide for additional specific details on how the plain packaging requirements are to be implemented for tobacco products.
The Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Act 2011 was enacted on the same date as the Plain Packaging Act to amend the Trade Marks Act 1995. It inserted a new section 231A to allow for regulations to be made under the Trade Marks Act 1995 to ensure that the tobacco plain packaging does not prevent the registration of new tobacco trademarks and the protection of registered tobacco trademarks against infringement.