I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4886

To amend the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 to require

warning labels for tobacco products.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 19, 2000

Mr. HANSEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising

Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health

Education Act of 1986 to require warning labels for

tobacco products.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stronger Tobacco

5 Warning Labels to Save Lives Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO FEDERAL CIGARETTE AND LABEL2 ING ADVERTISING ACT.

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Federal Cigarette Labeling

4 and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) is amended

5 by striking section 4 and inserting the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 4. LABELING.

7 ‘‘(a) LABEL.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any

9 person to manufacture, package, or import for sale

10 or distribution within the United States any ciga11 rettes the package of which fails to bear, in accord12 ance with the requirements of this section, a warn13 ing label.

14 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year

15 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec16 retary shall promulgate regulations describing the

17 warning label required by paragraph (1).

18 ‘‘(3) CONTENT OF LABEL.—The regulations

19 promulgated under paragraph (2) shall ensure that

20 the text of each warning label addresses one of the

21 following:

22 ‘‘(A) Diseases or fatal health conditions

23 caused by cigarette smoking.

24 ‘‘(B) Any physical addiction that results

25 from cigarette smoking.
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1 ‘‘(C) The influence that cigarette smoking

2 by adults has on young children and teenagers

3 and the consequences of such use.

4 ‘‘(D) The health hazards of secondhand

5 smoke from cigarettes.

6 ‘‘(4) GRAPHICS.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The regulations pro8 mulgated under paragraph (2) shall ensure that

9 each warning label contains a color graphic or

10 picture that illustrates or emphasizes to the

11 greatest practicable extent the message of the

12 text of the corresponding warning label.

13 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The graphics described

14 in subparagraph (A) shall enhance the message

15 of the text of the warning label and may include

16 a color picture of one of the following:

17 ‘‘(i) A diseased lung, heart, or mouth.

18 ‘‘(ii) An individual suffering from ad19 diction.

20 ‘‘(iii) Children watching an adult

21 smoke a cigarette.

22 ‘‘(iv) An individual adversely affected

23 by secondhand smoke from a cigarette, in24 cluding pregnant women or infants.
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1 ‘‘(b) ADVERTISING.—It shall be unlawful for any

2 manufacturer or importer of cigarettes to advertise or

3 cause to be advertised within the United States any ciga4 rette unless the advertising bears, in accordance with the

5 requirements of this section, one of the warning label

6 statements required by subsection (a).

7 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR LABELING.—

8 ‘‘(1) LOCATION.—Each label statement re9 quired by subsection (a) shall be located on the

10 upper portion of the front panel of the cigarette

11 package (or carton) and occupy not less than 50

12 percent of such front panel.

13 ‘‘(2) TYPE AND COLOR.—Each label statement

14 required by subsection (a) shall be printed in at

15 least 17 point type with adjustments as determined

16 appropriate by the Secretary. All the letters in the

17 label shall appear in conspicuous and legible type, in

18 contrast by typography, layout, or color with all

19 other printed material on the package, and be print20 ed in a black-on-white or white-on-black format as

21 determined appropriate by the Secretary.

22 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVERTISING.—

23 ‘‘(1) LOCATION.—Each label statement re24 quired by subsection (b) shall occupy not less than

25 50 percent of the area of the advertisement involved.
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1 ‘‘(2) TYPE AND COLOR.—

2 ‘‘(A) TYPE.—Each label statement re3 quired by subsection (b) shall be printed in a

4 point type that is not less than the following

5 types:

6 ‘‘(i) With respect to whole page adver7 tisements on broadsheet newspaper—45

8 point type.

9 ‘‘(ii) With respect to half page adver10 tisements on broadsheet newspaper—39

11 point type.

12 ‘‘(iii) With respect to whole page ad13 vertisements on tabloid newspaper—39

14 point type.

15 ‘‘(iv) With respect to half page adver16 tisements on tabloid newspaper—27 point

17 type.

18 ‘‘(v) With respect to DPS magazine

19 advertisements—31.5 point type.

20 ‘‘(vi) With respect to whole page mag21 azine advertisements—31.5 point type.

22 ‘‘(vii) With respect to 28cm x 3 col23 umn advertisements—22.5 point type.

24 ‘‘(viii) With respect to 20cm x 2 col25 umn advertisements—15 point type.
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1 The Secretary may revise the required type

2 sizes as the Secretary determines appropriate

3 within the 50 percent requirement.

4 ‘‘(B) COLOR.—All the letters in the label

5 under this paragraph shall appear in con6 spicuous and legible type, in contrast by typog7 raphy, layout, or color with all other printed

8 material and be printed in an alternating black9 on-white and white-on-black format as deter10 mined appropriate by the Secretary.

11 ‘‘(e) ROTATION OF LABEL STATEMENTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), the label statements specified in sub14 sections (a) and (b) shall be rotated by each manu15 facturer or importer of cigarettes quarterly in alter16 nating sequence on packages of each brand of ciga17 rettes manufactured by the manufacturer or im18 porter and in the advertisements for each such

19 brand of cigarettes in accordance with a plan sub20 mitted by the manufacturer or importer and ap21 proved by the Federal Trade Commission. The Fed22 eral Trade Commission shall approve a plan sub23 mitted by a manufacturer or importer of cigarettes

24 which will provide the rotation required by this sub25 section and which assures that all of the labels re-
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1 quired by subsections (a) and (b) will be displayed

2 by the manufacturer or importer at the same time.

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION OF OTHER ROTATION RE4 QUIREMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A manufacturer or

6 importer of cigarettes may apply to the Federal

7 Trade Commission to have the label rotation

8 described in subparagraph (C) apply with re9 spect to a brand style of cigarettes manufac10 tured or imported by such manufacturer or im11 porter if—

12 ‘‘(i) the number of cigarettes of such

13 brand style sold in the fiscal year by the

14 manufacturer or importer preceding the

15 submission of the application is less than

1 16 ⁄4 of 1 percent of all the cigarettes sold in

17 the United States in such year; and

‘‘(ii) more than 1 18 ⁄2 of the cigarettes

19 manufactured or imported by such manu20 facturer or importer for sale in the United

21 States are packaged into brand styles

22 which meet the requirements of clause (i).

23 If an application is approved by the Commis24 sion, the label rotation described in subpara25 graph (C) shall apply with respect to the appli-
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1 cant during the 1-year period beginning on the

2 date of the application approval.

3 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—An applicant under subpara4 graph (A) shall include in its application a plan

5 under which the label statements specified in

6 subsection (a) will be rotated by the applicant

7 manufacturer or importer in accordance with

8 the label rotation described in subparagraph

9 (C).

10 ‘‘(C) OTHER ROTATION REQUIREMENTS.—

11 Under the label rotation which the manufac12 turer or importer with an approved application

13 may put into effect, each of the labels specified

14 in subsection (a) shall appear on the packages

15 of each brand style of cigarettes with respect to

16 which the application was approved an equal

17 number of times within the 12-month period be18 ginning on the date of the approval by the

19 Commission of the application.

20 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENT.—Subsection

21 (a) does not apply to a distributor or a retailer of ciga22 rettes who does not manufacture, package, or import ciga23 rettes for sale or distribution within the United States.

24 ‘‘(g) CIGARS; PIPE TOBACCO.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pro2 mulgate such regulations as may be necessary to es3 tablish warning labels for cigars and pipe tobacco.

4 Such regulations shall require content-specific mes5 sages regarding health hazards posed by cigars and

6 pipe tobacco, include graphic illustrations of such

7 content messages, as is required under subsection

8 (a), and be formatted in a clear and unambiguous

9 manner, as is required under subsection (a).

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:

11 ‘‘(A) CIGAR.—The term ‘cigar’ means any

12 roll of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or in any

13 substance containing tobacco (other than any

14 roll of tobacco that is a cigarette or cigarillo).

15 ‘‘(B) PIPE TOBACCO.—The term ‘pipe to16 bacco’ means any loose tobacco that, because of

17 the appearance, type, packaging or labeling of

18 such tobacco, is likely to be offered to, or pur19 chased by, consumers as a tobacco to be

20 smoked in a pipe.’’

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

22 this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enact23 ment of this section.
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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE COMPREHENSIVE SMOKELESS

2 TOBACCO HEALTH EDUCATION ACT OF 1986.

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Comprehensive Smokeless

4 Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 (15 U.S.C. 4401

5 et seq.) is amended by striking section 3 and inserting

6 the following:

7 ‘‘SEC. 3. SMOKELESS TOBACCO WARNING.

8 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—

9 ‘‘(1) LABEL ON PACKAGE.—It shall be unlawful

10 for any person to manufacture, package, or import

11 for sale or distribution within the United States any

12 smokeless tobacco product unless the product pack13 age bears, in accordance with the requirements of

14 this section, a warning label.

15 ‘‘(2) LABEL IN ADVERTISEMENTS.—It shall be

16 unlawful for any manufacturer, packager, or im17 porter of smokeless tobacco products to advertise or

18 cause to be advertised within the United States any

19 smokeless tobacco product unless the advertising

20 bears, in accordance with the requirements of this

21 Act, one of the labels required by paragraph (1).

22 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after the

23 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pro24 mulgate regulations describing the warning labels required

25 under subsection (a).
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1 ‘‘(c) CONTENT OF LABEL.—The regulations promul2 gated under subsection (b) shall ensure that the text of

3 each warning label addresses one of the following:

4 ‘‘(1) Diseases resulting from use of smokeless

5 tobacco products.

6 ‘‘(2) Any physical addiction that results from

7 using smokeless tobacco products.

8 ‘‘(3) The influence that use of smokeless to9 bacco products by adults has on young children and

10 teenagers and the consequences of such use.

11 ‘‘(d) NUMBER OF LABELS.—The regulations promul12 gated under subsection (b) shall ensure that not less than

13 2 warning labels are created for each subject matter de14 scribed in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (c).

15 Such regulations shall also require that each package of

16 smokeless tobacco bear 1 warning label that shall be ro17 tated in accordance with subsection (g).

18 ‘‘(e) GRAPHICS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The regulations promul20 gated under subsection (b) shall ensure that each

21 warning label required by subsection (a) contains a

22 color graphic or picture that illustrates or empha23 sizes to the greatest practicable extent the message

24 of the text of the corresponding warning label.
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The graphics described in

2 paragraph (1) shall enhance the message of the text

3 of the warning label and may include a color picture

4 of one of the following:

5 ‘‘(A) A diseased mouth or other physical

6 effect of using smokeless tobacco products.

7 ‘‘(B) An individual using a smokeless to8 bacco product.

9 ‘‘(C) Children watching an adult use a

10 smokeless tobacco product.

11 ‘‘(f) FORMAT.—

12 ‘‘(1) LOCATION.—Each label statement re13 quired by subsection (a)(1) shall be located on the

14 principal display panel of the product and occupy

15 not less than 50 percent of such panel.

16 ‘‘(2) TYPE AND COLOR.—Each label statement

17 required by subsection (a)(1) shall be printed in 17

18 point type with adjustments as determined appro19 priate by the Secretary to reflect the length of the

20 required statement. All the letters in the label shall

21 appear in conspicuous and legible type in contrast by

22 typography, layout, or color with all other printed

23 material on the package and be printed in an alter24 nating black on white and white on black format as

25 determined appropriate by the Secretary.
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1 ‘‘(g) ADVERTISING AND ROTATION.—The provisions

2 of sections (d) and (e)(1) of the Federal Cigarette Label3 ing and Advertising Act (as amended by the Stronger To4 bacco Warning Labels to Save Lives Act) shall apply to

5 advertisements for smokeless tobacco products required

6 under subsection (a)(2) and the rotation of the label state7 ments required under subsection (a)(1) on such products.

8 ‘‘(h) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENT.—Subsection

9 (a) does not apply to a distributor or a retailer of smoke10 less tobacco products who does not manufacture, package,

11 or import such products for sale or distribution within the

12 United States.

13 ‘‘(i) TELEVISION AND RADIO ADVERTISING.—It shall

14 be unlawful to advertise smokeless tobacco or cigars on

15 any medium of electronic communications subject to the

16 jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commis17 sion.’’.

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

19 this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enact20 ment of this section.

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