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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1532

To strengthen warning labels on smokeless tobacco products.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1999

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

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To strengthen warning labels on smokeless 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 ‘‘Smokeless Tobacco

5 Warning Label Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. SMOKELESS TOBACCO LABELS AND ADVERTISING

7 WARNINGS.

8 Section 3 of the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco

9 Health Education Act of 1986 (15 U.S.C. 4402) is amend10 ed to read as follows:

11 ‘‘SEC. 3. SMOKELESS TOBACCO WARNING.

12 ‘‘(a) PACKAGING.—
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1 ‘‘(1) WARNING STATEMENTS.—It shall be un2 lawful for any person to manufacture, package, or

3 import for sale or distribution within the United

4 States any smokeless tobacco product unless the

5 product package bears, in accordance with the re6 quirements of this Act, one of the following labels:

7 ‘WARNING: This Product Can Cause Mouth Can8 cer’

9 ‘WARNING: THIS Product Can Cause Gum Dis10 ease And Tooth Loss’

11 ‘WARNING: THIS Product Is Not A Safe Alter12 native To Cigarettes’

13 ‘WARNING: Smokeless Tobacco Is Addictive’.

14 ‘WARNING: This Product Contains Cancer Causing

15 Chemicals’.

16 ‘‘(2) LOCATION AND SIZE.—Each label state17 ment required by paragraph (1) shall—

18 ‘‘(A) comprise 20 percent of the area of

19 each principal display panel of the package;

20 ‘‘(B) have the word ‘WARNING’ appear in

21 capital letters; and

22 ‘‘(C) as determined appropriate by the Sec23 retary of Health and Human Services in con24 junction with the Federal Trade Commission,

25 have all other words in the statement appear in
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1 clear and conspicuous and legible type, in black

2 text on a white background, or white text on a

3 black background, and in a manner that con4 trasts by typography, layout, or color, with all

5 other printed material on the package.

6 ‘‘(3) RESPONSIBILITY.—The label statements

7 required by paragraph (1) shall be introduced by

8 each tobacco product manufacturer, packager, im9 porter, distributor, or retailer of smokeless tobacco

10 products concurrently into the distribution chain of

11 such products.

12 ‘‘(4) EXEMPTION.—This subsection does not

13 apply to a tobacco product manufacturer or dis14 tributor of any smokeless tobacco product that does

15 not manufacture, package, or import smokeless to16 bacco products for sale or distribution within the

17 United States.

18 ‘‘(b) ADVERTISING.—

19 ‘‘(1) ILLEGAL ACT.—It shall be unlawful for

20 any tobacco product manufacturer, packager, im21 porter, distributor, or retailer of smokeless tobacco

22 products to advertise or cause to be advertised with23 in the United States any smokeless tobacco product

24 unless its advertising bears, in accordance with the
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1 requirements of this section, one of the label state2 ments specified in subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR STATEMENTS.—Each

4 label statement required by subsection (a) in smoke5 less tobacco advertising shall comply with the stand6 ards set forth in this paragraph. For press and post7 er advertisements, each such statement shall—

8 ‘‘(A) comprise at least 15 percent of the

9 area of the advertisement;

10 ‘‘(B) have the word ‘WARNING’ appear in

11 capital letters; and

12 ‘‘(C) as determined appropriate by the Sec13 retary of Health and Human Services in con14 junction with the Federal Trade Commission,

15 have all other words appear in the statement in

16 clear and conspicuous and legible type, in black

17 text on a white background, or white text on a

18 black background, and in a manner that con19 trasts by typography, layout, or color, with all

20 other printed material on the advertisement.

21 ‘‘(c) ROTATION AND DISPLAY OF WARNING STATE22 MENTS.—

23 ‘‘(1) PACKAGING.—The label statements re24 quired under subsection (a) shall be randomly dis25 played in each 12-month period, in as equal a num-
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1 ber of times as is possible on each brand of the

2 product and be randomly distributed in all areas of

3 the United States in which the product is marketed

4 in accordance with a plan submitted by the tobacco

5 product manufacturer, importer, distributor, or re6 tailer and approved by the Secretary of Health and

7 Human Services.

8 ‘‘(2) ADVERTISING.—The label statements re9 quired under subsection (a) shall be rotated quar10 terly in alternating sequence in advertisements for

11 each brand of smokeless tobacco product in accord12 ance with a plan submitted by the tobacco product

13 manufacturer, importer, distributor, or retailer to,

14 and approved by, the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL REVIEW.—The Secretary, in

16 conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission,

17 shall review each plan submitted under paragraphs

18 (1) and (2) and approve it if the plan—

19 ‘‘(i) in the case of a plan submitted under

20 paragraph (1), assures that all of the labels re21 quired under this section will be displayed by

22 the tobacco product manufacturer, importer,

23 distributor, or retailer at the same time; and

24 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a plan submitted under

25 paragraph (2), will provide for the equal dis-
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1 tribution and display on packaging and the ro2 tation required in advertising under this sub3 section.’’.

4 ‘‘(d) ELECTRONIC MEDIA.—It is unlawful to adver5 tise smokeless tobacco on any medium of electronic com6 munications subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal

7 Communications Commission.’’.

8 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO REVISE SMOKELESS TOBACCO

9 PRODUCT WARNING LABEL STATEMENTS.

10 Section 3 of the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco

11 Health Education Act of 1986 (15 U.S.C. 4402), as

12 amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at

13 the end the following:

14 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY TO REVISE LABEL STATEMENTS.—

15 The Secretary of Health and Human Services may, by a

16 rulemaking conducted under section 553 of title 5, United

17 States Code, adjust the format, type size, and text of any

18 of the label statements required by subsection (a) if the

19 Secretary finds that such a change would promote greater

20 public understanding of the risks associated with the use

21 of smokeless tobacco products.’’.

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