France is the latest country to introduce plain cigarette packaging from 2016. Cigarettes in France will be sold in plain packaging under a law that was finally passed in the French parliament in December, despite objections from the conservative opposition.
Starting in May 2016 the brand name will appear but in a small, uniform typeface and packets will be shorn of logos. Smoking accounts for around 78,000 deaths in France and it is the leading cause of premature death in the country.
The United Kingdom and Ireland have since followed suit, as plain packaging legislative initiatives spread throughout Europe.