The UK Cigar World Mobilises Against Plain Packaging Plans

Following the generational smoking ban, the UK is now considering plain packaging for cigars. A consultation has been launched.

The UK has apparently not had its fill of poorly calibrated anti-smoking policies. After definitively adopting the “generational ban” this spring, which will make it illegal from January 1 next year to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009 — with no exception for handmade cigars — the government is now turning its attention to their packaging.

On July 10, the Department of Health and Social Care launched a twelve-week consultation on a new set of measures concerning the appearance, packaging and presentation of tobacco products. Among them is a proposal to extend plain packaging to all tobacco products, including handmade cigars.

At this stage, nothing has yet been decided. But the principle is clearly on the table: cigars, cigarillos, pipe tobacco, shisha tobacco and other tobacco products would be subject to packaging rules broadly aligned with those imposed on cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco since 2017.

Regulations Designed for Cigarettes

The British proposal notably calls for packaging in a drab brown colour, with no logo or promotional graphic elements, and with the brand and product name presented in a standardised format. The government is also proposing to extend pictorial health warnings to all tobacco products, including cigars, which are currently exempt when sold individually and/or when the individual cigar weighs more than three grams.

Messages encouraging smokers to quit could also be introduced inside the packaging of all tobacco products.

“A Cigar Is Not a Cigarette”

Industry professionals have launched a mobilisation tool: the Save Cigars – Plain Packaging, Plain Nonsense! website, created to encourage consumers and retailers to respond to the government consultation.

At the heart of the campaign is a central objection: applying rules designed for cigarettes to cigars would amount to ignoring the particular nature of the product. Handmade cigars are a luxury product whose identity is largely built around their brand, vitola, origin and history, professionals and cigar enthusiasts argue. Their packaging is not merely a marketing tool: in many cases, it is also part of the product experience.

The cigar box, its design, colours, lettering and the way the different references are presented all help aficionados identify what they are buying.

The issue is all the more sensitive because cigars are already subject to an extremely restrictive regulatory environment in the UK. A display ban is already in place, preventing retailers from displaying tobacco products where they can be seen from the street.

For those defending cigars, the combination of these two measures could therefore have a very different effect from that intended in the case of cigarettes.

The Specific Nature of Cigars Already Recognised Elsewhere

In France, a bill introduced in April 2026 by 69 MPs seeks to extend the principle of plain packaging to all tobacco and vaping products not yet covered by it, notably cigars and cigarillos. However, the bill was not placed on the parliamentary agenda before the summer, and its future now appears highly uncertain ahead of the 2027 elections.

Belgium has gone further: since June 1, 2026, standardised packaging has applied to cigars and cigarillos. But following protests from the industry, the Belgian authorities eventually acknowledged some of the particular characteristics of cigars. Original cigar bands were therefore authorised after several months of discussions with the Health Ministry. The sub-brand designation was also reintroduced.

The key question is precisely whether the UK intends to impose on cigars plain packaging that is strictly identical to that used for cigarettes, or whether it will accept, as Belgium has just done, to adapt the rules to the specific characteristics of the product.

This is the whole point of the Save Cigars campaign. The website encourages aficionados to take part directly in the government consultation and provides resources to help them formulate their responses. Retailers also have access to a dedicated section.

The consultation is open until October 2.