Last updated: November 11, 2021
Other Packaging and Labeling Requirements
Warning requirements on unit packaging and labeling (e.g., packs)
The law requires that the “package” contain the prescribed warnings. Package is defined to cover both the individual unit packaging and outside packaging.
The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to warning requirements on unit packaging and labeling.
Warning/messages required on outside packaging and labeling (e.g., cartons)
The law requires that the “package” contain the prescribed warnings. Package is defined to cover both the individual unit packaging and outside packaging.
The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to warning requirements on outside packaging and labeling.
Warning texts must be in the principal language(s) of the country
Warning texts must appear in English and Kiswahili.
The law meets the FCTC Art. 11 requirements of warning texts appearing in the principal language of the country.
A requirement that warnings or messages may not be placed where they may be permanently damaged or concealed when opening the pack
The Tobacco Control Regulations require that the health warning not be "distorted or likely to be damaged, concealed, obliterated, removed or rendered permanently unreadable when the package on which it is printed is opened in the normal way" and also prohibit the pack design from having a cover that may obscure the warnings.
The law aligns with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines with respect to warnings not being placed where they may be permanently damaged or concealed when opening the pack.
A requirement that tax stamps or other required markings may not be placed where they may conceal warnings or messages
The law does not prescribe where the tax stamps may be placed, nor does it explicitly state that health warnings may not be concealed by tax stamps or other required markings.
To align with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines, the law should state that tax stamps or other required markings may not be placed where they may conceal warnings or messages.
A requirement to display qualitative (descriptive) constituents and emissions messages
The law requires that tobacco products bear a statement as to tar, nicotine, and other constituents on the right-hand side of the package. The prescribed statement “shall be limited to the disclosure of the contents and not their quantities.”
The law aligns with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines in this respect.
Prohibition on the display of figures for emission yields (including tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide)
Statements on tar, nicotine, and other constituents are limited to “disclosure of the contents and not their quantities.”
This provision aligns with FCTC Art. 11 and the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines with respect to a prohibition on figures for emission yields.
Plain or standardized packaging
Plain packaging of tobacco products is not required in Kenya. The FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines provide that Parties should consider adopting plain packaging measures that restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colors, brand images, or other promotional information on packaging other than brand and product names displayed in a standard color and font style. Plain packaging aims to reduce the appeal of tobacco products, to increase the noticeability of health warnings, and to reduce the ability of the packaging of tobacco products to mislead consumers about the harmful effects of smoking.
Prohibition on misleading tobacco packaging & labeling including terms, descriptors, trademarks, figurative or other signs (logos, colors, images that directly create a false impression that a tobacco product is less harmful than other tobacco products)
The Tobacco Control Act prohibits promotion of tobacco products “by any means, including by means of the packaging, that are false, misleading or deceptive.” The Tobacco Control Regulations further prohibit the use on tobacco product packages of "a name, brand name, text, trademark or pictorial or any other representation or sign which suggests that the tobacco product is less harmful to health than other tobacco products."
The law meets FCTC Art. 11 with respect to the use of terms, descriptors, or other signs that directly or indirectly create a false impression that a tobacco product is less harmful than other tobacco products.
