European Parliament resolution on the follow-up to Parliament's opinion on the European Union's position in view of the third round of negotiations for a WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Date: 2001-11-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: World Health Organisation, health legislation, health policy, illicit trade, industrial counterfeiting, market approval, smoking, young person

13.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 140 E/109

TEXTS ADOPTED

Tuesday 13 November 2001

1. Tobacco control (procedure without debate)

B5-0701/2001

European Parliament resolution on the follow-up to Parliament’s opinion on the European Union’s
position in view of the third round of negotiations for a WHO Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control

The European Parliament,

(cid:16) having regard to its resolution of 18 December 1997 on the Commission communication to the
Council and the European Parliament on the present and proposed Community role in combating
tobacco consumption (COM(1996) 609 (cid:16) C4-0014/1997) (1),

(cid:16) having regard to European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/37/EC of 5 June 2001 on the
approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning
the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products (2),

(cid:16) having regard to the Commission proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on the
approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to
the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products (3),

(cid:16) having regard to the intention announced by the President of the Commission, endorsed by Parliament
on 4 July 2001, to move towards alternative support for EU farmers currently subsidised for growing
tobacco,

(cid:16) having regard to the first and second round of negotiations for a WHO Framework Convention on

Tobacco Control,

(cid:16) having regard to Rule 70 of the Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas tobacco is a major health determinant and tobacco-related diseases are responsible each year

for around four million deaths worldwide,

B. whereas this figure is expected to rise to 10 million deaths per year by 2030, with 70 % of them

occurring in developing countries,

C. whereas people are beginning to smoke occasionally or regularly at an increasingly younger age,

irrespective of gender and customs,

D. having regard to the evidence that there is a correlation between price and consumption of tobacco,
particularly among young people, and to the need to remove tobacco products from the Retail Price
Index to avoid Member State reluctance to affect inflation rates,

E.

having regard to the sound scientific data concerning the risks associated with passive smoking,

F. whereas tobacco consumption is increasing globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries

and among women and young girls,

G. whereas tobacco control measures should therefore be of a horizontal nature and be agreed at inter-

national level, taking as a basis a high level of public health protection,

Supports the objective of a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control set by the World Health

1.
Assembly in its resolution of 24 May 1999;

(1) OJ C 14, 19.1.1998, p. 197.
(2) OJ L 194, 18.7.2001, p. 26.
(3) OJ C 270 E, 25.9.2001, p. 97.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.6.2002

Tuesday 13 November 2001

2. Welcomes the progress made in the first and second round of negotiations on the Framework Con-
vention;

Believes that a substantive legal instrument agreed at international level, as the Framework Conven-
3.
tion is intended to be, constitutes an important means to address tobacco-related problems and, con-
sequently, to promote public health;

4.
Broadly agrees with the guiding principles, the general obligations and the measures proposed for the
Framework Convention, and considers that there is a need to prioritise the measures according to the
impact which they have on public health and the environment;

5.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support a provision explicitly stating that the
Convention and tobacco regulations generally should apply to all tobacco products, including cigarettes,
smokeless tobacco, roll-your-own, cigars, kreteks, ‘bidis’, and the like;

6.
Considers that the elimination of all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, including smuggling
and counterfeiting, is an essential component of tobacco control and calls on the Commission and the
Member States to push for concrete measures in this field to be included in the proposed Convention;

7.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support provisions in Section I.5 of the proposed
Convention for preventing and combating illicit trade in tobacco products, and furthermore, to come
forward with proposals that criminal laws be enacted against counterfeiting where they do not currently
exist and that the provisions for the destruction of all contraband and counterfeit cigarettes be extended to
also cover destruction of the equipment and machinery used to produce counterfeit products;

8. Welcomes the proposal that, with a view to combating smuggling, each unit packet or package of
tobacco products should carry the statement ‘Sales only allowed in [the country where the product is to be
placed on the market]’;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support a prohibition of sales of tobacco pro-

9.
ducts to persons under the age of 18;

10.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support a provision in the Convention that
would, consistent with the health warnings on packages, require manufacturers to include clear and con-
spicuous health warnings in tobacco advertisements;

11.
Supports the proposal that standards for the regulation of the contents of tobacco products, includ-
ing standards for testing and measuring, designing, manufacturing and processing such products, be devel-
oped and harmonised under the auspices of the World Health Organization;

12.
Believes that Community financial support for the implementation of the Convention in the devel-
oping countries, including finding alternative agricultural activities and opening markets for replacement
crops, should be considered in due course;

13.
Notes that the EC delegation will have a key role to play in the negotiations and believes that, while
taking as a basis the Community ‘acquis’, the Community must also be open to considering and supporting
proposals for tobacco control measures going beyond existing EU legislation;

14.
Urges, therefore, the Commission and the Member States to strongly support those delegations that
are pushing for the conclusion, within the anticipated time limits, of an effective Convention which pro-
vides the appropriate framework for concrete measures to substantially reduce tobacco consumption;

15.
Calls for the European Parliament member present to be more fully informed of the progress of
negotiations by being better integrated into the EC delegation, and in particular by being able to attend the
EU coordination meetings;

16.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States and the secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control.