CELEX: 51988PC0845
Language: en
Date: 1989-01-13
Title: Amended Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the labelling of tobacco products (presented by the Commission in accordance with Article 149(3) of the EEC Treaty)

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 ---pagebreak---   COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
               Ϋ               \/             COM(88 ) 845 final - SYN 116
           ?/ t>                              Brussels , 13 January 1989
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                                   W  «
                               Amended Proposai for a
                                  COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
     on the approximation of the laws , regulations and administrative
         provisions of the Member States concerning the labelling of
                                   tobacco products
       ( presented by the Commission in accordance with Article 149(3 )
                                  of the EEC Treaty )
f
 ---pagebreak---                                                              С??> <ч '~ /
  AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE APPROXIMATION OF THE
  LAWS , REGULATIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS OF THE MEMBER STATES
                 CONCERNING THE LABELLING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS
                                COM(88 ) 845 final
                             EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
On 4 February 1988 ,       the Commission transmitted to the Council its
proposal      for   a   Directive   concerning the labelling of tobacco
products ( 1 ) .
The Economic       and Social   Committee delivered its   opinion on this
proposal on 7 July 1988 ( 2 ).
The European Parliament , which was consulted by way of the cooperation
procedure , gave a very favourable opinion on the original Commission
proposal with a number of amendments .
This modified proposal takes account of these opinions .       Furthermore ,
a number of drafting and technical amendments have been made following
discussions which have taken place since the original proposal was
presented .
                            EXAMINATION OF RECITALS
In accordance with amendment n° 1 adopted by the Parliament , a new
recital has been introduced on the need for health education      ed
programmess for young people and public information and awareness aw
campaigns .
                      Comments on the individual articles
Article 1
A slight amendment has been made to the wording .
Article 2
Unchanged .
Article 3
To take account of amendment n° 3 by the European Parliament , a
reference to ISO Standard 8243 on the verification of tar and nicotine
yields indicated on cigarette packets has been included in paragraph 2
and paragraph 3 has been amended to cover those countries with more
than one official language . A new paragraph 4 has been introduced to
ensure that the tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes marketed m ©ach
Member State are known and published . This paragraph lays down that
the Commission shall publish the information provided by the Member
the
States in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
 ( 1 ) OJ C4S , 20 02.1988 , p. 88
 ( 2 ) OJ C237 , 12.09.1988 , p. 43
 ---pagebreak--- Article 4
Slight   amendments     have   been  made   to   the  wording   of  the   first
paragraph .    In paragraph 2 , in addition to drafting amendments , a new
provision introduces a 5 % tolerance for the frequency of appearance
of specific warnings to be printed on cigarette packets in accordance
with amendment n° 5 by the European Parliament . As in article 3 ,
paragraph 3 , a distinction is made in paragraph 3 of article 4 to
cover countries with more than one official language , in accordance
with amendment n° 6 by the European Parliament . In paragraph 4 ,
legibility requirements have been introduced for tobacco products
other than cigarettes .
Article 5
The  aim   of   the modification made     is   to  limit the  mandate   of  the
Committee on adaptation to technical progress to questions relating to
methods of measurement , in accordance with amendment n° 7 by the
European Parliament . •
Article 6
Unchanged .            .4 ;
Article 7
Unchanged .
Article 8 -
To take account of ? amendment n° 11 by the European Parliament , a
slight amendment has been made to the wording of the first paragraph
and a new paragraph 2 seeks to indicate the conditions under which a
Member State may adopt special rules on the sale and consumption of
tobacco products , provided that this does not imply any changes to
labelling as laid down in the Directive .
Article 9
Article   9   introduces    a distinction between the     final  date  for the
adoption of national provisions to comply with this Directive and
those for the implementation of such national provisions .                   In
                                                                             In
addition , the new paragraph 3 lays down that in the event of an
amendment to the lists of warnings drawn up in accordance with the
provisions of Article 4 , paragraph 2 , Member States must notify that
amendment 18 months in advance to the Commission , which in turn must
publish it in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
                       ï
Article 10
Unchanged
Annex
There are no changes regarding the compulsory warnings .
However , as regards the optional warnings , drafting amendments have
been made and new warnings added .
                                                                                3
 ---pagebreak---          PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE APPROXIMATION OF THE LAWS .
      REGULATIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS OF THE MEMBER STATES CONCERNING
                           THE LABELLING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS
                                COM ( 87 ) 719 final/modified
                Original Text                             Modified proposai
  THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
  COMMUNITIES
  Having regard to the Treaty esta ¬                      Unchanged
  blishing the European Economic
  Community , and in particular Article
  100a thereof ,
  Having regard to the proposal from
  the Commission (!) ,
  In cooperation with the European
  Parliament ( 2 ) ,
  Having regard to the opinion of the
  Economic and Social Committee ( 3 ) ,
  Whereas there are differences between                   Unchanged
  the laws , regulations and administra¬
  tive provisions of the Member States
  on the labelling of tobacco products ;
  whereas such differences are likely
. to constitute barriers to trade and
  to impede the establishment and
  operation of the internal market ;
  Whereas those obstacles should                          Unchanged
  accordingly be eliminated and whereas
  to that end the marketing and free
  movement of tobacco products must be
  made subject to uniform rules
  concerning labelling ;
  Whereas such common rules must take                     Unchanged
  due account of public health
  protection ;
  Whereas the European Council held in                    Unchanged
  Milan on 28 and 29 June 1985 stressed
  the importance of launching a European
  Action programme against cancer ;
                                                                                I
  ( 1 ) OJ No C48 , 20.02.1988 , Pp ­ 8 .
  (2)
  ( 3 ) OJ No C237 , 12.009.1988 , P- 43    .
 ---pagebreak--- Whereas the Council and the Represen¬                 Unchanged
tatives of the Governments of the
K.-.iaber States , meeting within the
Council , in their resolution of 7 July
' c 86 f 1 ) , set for this programme the
1 C
 V'jjective of contributing to an
i iprovement of the health and quality
of life of citizens within the
Community by reducing the number of
cancers ; whereas they have for this
purpose identified the fight against
the use of tobacco products as their
prime objective ;
Whereas the printing of health                        Unchanged
warnings on the packaging of all
tobacco products concerning the risks
of use of tobacco products are a vital
factor in the protection of public
health ;
Whereas , for the purpose of improving                Unchanged
health protection , the indication of
the tar and nicotine yield on cigarette
packets      is essential for the health
information and education of the
general public ;
Whereas this Directive calls for                      Unchanged
minimum provisions which will be
reviewed on the basis of experience
gained and the development of medical
knowledge in this area , the objective
being to achieve greater protection of
individuals ,
                                          Whereas , finally , the initiatives
                                          set out in this Directive can only
                                          have a beneficial effect on public
                                          health if they are coupled with
                                          health education programmes beginning
                                          during the years of compulsory
                                          education and with periodic
                                          information and public awareness
                                          campaigns ;
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE       :
                   Article 1                                Article 1
The objective of this Directive is        The objective of this Directive is the
the harmonization of the laws , regu¬     harmonization of the laws , regulations
lations and administrative provisions     and administrative provisions of the
of the Member States concerning the       Member States concerning the warnings
medical warnings on the unit packet       regarding health on the unit of
of tobacco products and the               packaging of tobacco products and the
indication of the tar and nicotine        indication of tar and nicotine yield
yield on cigarette packets , taking       on cigarette packets , taking as a base
as a base a high level of health          a high level of health protection .
protection .
 ( 1 ) OJ No C18 4 , 27.7.1986 , p. 19 .
                                                                                  ?
 ---pagebreak---    e ) shall not be printed on the
       transparent wrapper or any other
       external wrapping .
                Article 5                                 Article 5
Adaptation to technical progress in     Adaptation to technical progress in
accordance with the procedure           accordance with the procedure provided
provided for in Article 6 shall be      for in Article 6 shall be limited to
limited to the obligatory indications   the methods of measurement of the
given on cigarette packets as provi-    obligatory indications of tar and
ded for in Article 3 as well as to      nicotine yields on cigarette packets
the health warnings laid down in        as provided
                                        as  provided for
                                                     for in
                                                          in Article
                                                             Article 33 ..
Article 4 .
                Article 6                                 Article 6
With a view to the adaptation to                   Unchanged
technical progress referred to in
Article 5 , the Commission shall be
assisted by a Committee of an advisory
nature composed of representatives
of the Member States and chaired by
the representative of the Commission .
                Artide 7                                  Article 7
The representative of the Commission               Unchanged
shall submit to the Committee a draft
of the measures to be taken .   The
Committee shall deliver its opinion on
the draft , within a time limit which
the chairman may lay down according
to the urgency of the matter , if
necessary by taking a vote .
The opinion shall be recorded in the
minutes ; in addition , each Member
State shall have the right to ask to                                             ;!
have its position recorded in the
minutes .
The Commission shall take the utmost
account of the opinion delivered by
the committee .   It shall inform the
committee of the manner in which its
opinion has been taken into account .
                Article 8                                 Article 8
Member States may not prohibit or       1 . Member States may not , for reasons
restrict the sale of products which         of labelling , prohibit or restrict
conform to this Directive .                 the sale of products which conform
                                            to this Directive .
                                        2 . The provisions of this Directive
                                            do not otherwise affect the right
                                            of the Member States to adopt , in
                                            accordance with the Treaty , rules
                                            concerning the sale and consumption
                                            of tobacco products which they deem '
                                            necessary in order to protect pu ¬
                                            blic health , provided such rules do
                                            not imply any changes to labelling
                                            as laid down in this Directive .
 ---pagebreak---                 Article 9                                  Article 9
1 . Member States shall adopt the       1 . Member States shall adopt the
    laws , regulations and administra ¬     laws , regulations and administra ¬
    tive provisions necessary to            tive provisions necessary to
    comply with this Directive before       comply with this Directive before
    31 December 199 0 . They shall          1 July 1990 .
    forthwith inform the Commission
    thereof . However , products            They shall forthwith inform the
    existing at that date which do not      Commission thereof and communicate
    comply with this Directive may          to it the provisions of national
    still be put on sale until 31           law which they adopt in the field
    December 1992 .                         qoverned by this Directive .
                                            The Commission shall publish in
                                            the Official Journal of the
                                            European Communities the national
                                            lists drawn UP in accordance with
                                            Article 4 , paragraph 2 .
2 . Member States shall communicate to 2 . Member States shall bring into
    the Commission the provisions of        force
                                            force the
                                                   the above
                                                        above laws
                                                              laws ,, regulations
                                                                      regulati
    national law which they adopt in        and administrative
                                            and  administrative provisions
                                                                 provisions
    the field governed by this              before 31
                                            before  31 December
                                                        December 1991
                                                                 1991 ..
    Directive .
                                            However I, products existing at that
                                            date which do not comply with this
                                            Directive mav still be put on sale
                                            until 31 December 1992 .
                                        3 . Member States which after 31
                                            December 1991 amend their lists
                                            drawn up in accordance with Article
                                            4 . paragraph 2 shall notify the
                                            Commission of that amendment
                                            eighteen months before its imple ¬
                                            mentation .   The Commission shall
                                            publish it in the Official Journal
                                            of the European Communities .
                Article 10                                 Article 10
    This Directive is addressed to the              Unchanged
    Member States .
                                                                                  }
 ---pagebreak---                     ANNEX                                   ANNEX
          List of health warnings                      List of warninqs
X •  Which must be included in the      I.  Unchanged
     list of warnings to be drawn up
     by Member States :
     a ) Smoking causes cancer ;            a ) Unchanged
     b ) Smoking causes heart disease .     b ) Unchanged
II . Which may be included in the list II . Unchanged
     of warnings to be drawn up by the
     Member States   :
     a ) Smoking causes fatal disease .     a ) Unchanged
     b ) Smoking car. kill you .            b ) Smoking kills .
     c ) Smoking when pregnant can          c ) Pregnant women : smoking harms
         injure your baby .                     your babv .
     d ) Stopping smoking reduces the       d ) Unchanged
         risk of serious disease
     e ) Smoking causes lung cancer ,       e ) Smoking causes lung cancer ,
         bronchitis and other chest             chronic bronchitis and other
         diseases .                             chest diseases .
     f ) More than (...) people die         f ) Unchanged
         each year in ( name of the
         country ) from lung cancer .
     g ) Smokers die younger .              g ) Smokers die prematurely .
                                            hi Smoking damages the health of
                                                those around vou .
                                            i)  Protect children from tobacco
                                                smoke - vou yourself have the
                                                right to choose .
                                            i ) Every year , ... ( nationality )
                                                are killed in road accidents .
                                                . . . times more die from their
                                                addiction to smoking ,
                                            k ) Don't smoke if vou want to stay
                                                healthy .
                                            1 ) Save monev ; stop smoking .