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

No C 62/12                            Official Journal of the European Communities                           11. 3. 89
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
             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 — SYN 116
             (submitted by the Commission in accordance with Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 15
                                                      December 1988)
                                                       (89/C 62/16)
             (') OJ No C 48, 20. 2. 1988, p. 9.
                       ORIGINAL TEXT                                               MODIFIED PROPOSAL
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European            unchanged
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('),
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee (2),
Whereas there are differences between the laws, regu-            unchanged
lations and administrative 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 accordingly be elim-              unchanged
inated 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 due account of                unchanged
public health protection;
Whereas the European Council held in Milan on 28 and              unchanged
29 June 1985 stressed the importance of launching a
European Action programme against cancer;
(«) OJ No C 48, 20. 2. 1988, p. 8.
 (2) OJ No C 237, 12. 9. 1988, p. 43.
 ---pagebreak---  11. 3. 89                              Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 62/13
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                  MODIFIED PROPOSAL
Whereas the Council and the Representatives of the                unchanged
 Governments of the Member States, meeting within the
 Council, in their resolution of 7 July 1986 ('), set for this
programme the objective of contributing to an
improvement 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 warnings on the                    unchanged
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 health protection,      unchanged
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 minimum provisions               unchanged
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 indi-
viduals,
                                                                  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 harmonization of           The objective of this Directive is the harmonization of
the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the        the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Member States concerning the medical warnings on the              Member States concerning the warnings regarding health
unit packet of tobacco products and the indication of the         on the unit of packaging of tobacco products and the
tar and nicotine yield on cigarette packets, taking as a          indication of tar and nicotine yield on cigarette packets,
base a high level of health protection.                           taking as a base a high level of health protection.
                           Article 2                                                       Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive:                               unchanged
1. 'tobacco products' means products for the purpose of
    smoking, sniffing, sucking or chewing, in as much as
    they are, even partly, made of tobacco;
2. 'tar' means the raw             anhydrous     nicotine-free
    condensate of smoke;
3. 'nicotine' means nicotinic alkaloids
(') OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 19.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 62/14                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 11. 3. 89
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                 MODIFIED PROPOSAL
                           Article 3                                                       Article 3
1.     The tar and nicotine yields to be indicated on             1.    The tar and nicotine yields to be indicated on
cigarette packets shall be measured on the basis of the          cigarette packets shall be measured on the basis of the
ISO 4387 and ISO 3400 methods respectively, or any               ISO 4387 and ISO 3400 methods respectively.
other method which yields equivalent results.
2.     Indications on packets shall be considered                2.     The accuracy of indications on packets shall be
acceptable where they do not differ by more than 1 mg            verified in accordance with ISO standard 8243.
from the results of tests carried out by the bodies
designated for that purpose by the Member States.
3.     The indications concerned shall be printed in the         3.     The indications concerned shall be printed in the
official language or languages of the consumer's country         official language or languages of the country of final
on the side of the packet or on a mobile part of the             marketing in clearly visible print on a contrasting back-
packet in clearly visible print on a contrasting back-           ground so that at least 4 % of the corresponding surface
ground.                                                          is covered. This percentage shall be raised to at least 6 %
                                                                 for countries with two official languages and to at least
                                                                 8 % for countries with three official languages.
                                                                 4.     In January each year the Member States shall
                                                                 forward to the Commission lists of the tar and nicotine
                                                                 yields of the cigarettes sold on their markets. The
                                                                 Commission shall publish this information in the Official
                                                                 Journal of the European Communities.
                           Article 4                                                       Article 4
1.     All units of packaging of tobacco products shall           1.    All unit of packaging of tobacco products shall
carry the following warning in the official language or          carry the following warning in the official language or
languages of the consumer's country, on one of the two           languages of the country of final marketing on the most
largest surfaces: 'Tobacco seriously damages health'.            visible surface: 'Tobacco seriously damages health'.
2.    With regard to cigarette packets, the other large          2.     With regard to cigarette packets, the other large
surface shall carry in the official language or languages        surface shall carry in the official language or languages
of the consumer's country a specific warning.                    of the country of final marketing specific warnings alter-
                                                                 nating in accordance with the following rule:
For this purpose, each Member State shall draw up a list         — each Member State shall draw up a list of warnings
of warnings taken from those listed in the Annex. That               taken from those listed in the Annex to this Directive;
list must include however the following warnings:
                                                                 — the specific warnings selected shall be printed on the
(a) 'smoking causes cancer';                                         unit of packaging so as to ensure the appearance of
(b) 'smoking causes heart disease'.                                  each warning on an equal quantity of unit of
                                                                     packaging with a tolerance of around 5 %.
Those warnings shall appear on the unit of packaging
according to a formula adopted by each Member State
in such a way as to guarantee an equal frequency of
display for each warning.
3.    The warnings provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2            3.     On cigarette packets the warnings provided for in
shall be printed in letters of a minimum size of 3 mm and        paragraphs 1 and 2 shall cover at least 4 % of the total
in such a way as to cover at least 2 % of the total              surface of the unit of packaging. This percentage shall be
surface of the corresponding side of the unit of                 increased to at least 6 °/o for countries with two official
packaging.                                                       languages and to at least 8 % for countries with three
                                                                 official languages. The required warnings on the two
                                                                 largest surfaces of each cigarette packet:
 ---pagebreak---  11. 3. 89                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 62/15
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                  MODIFIED PROPOSAL
                                                                  (a) shall be clear and legible;
                                                                 (b) shall be printed In bold letters;
                                                                 (c) shall not be printed in a place where they may be
                                                                      damaged when the package is opened;
                                                                 (d) shall not be printed on the transparent wrapper or
                                                                      any other external wrapping.
 4.   The required warnings on the two sides of each             4.    In the case of tobacco products other than ciga-
unit of packaging:                                               rettes, the general warning laid down in paragraph 1 shall
                                                                 be printed or irremmovably affixed in a conspicuous place
 (a) shall be clear and legible;                                 in such a way as to be easily visible, clearly legible and
 (b) shall be printed in bold letters;                           indelible. It shall not in any way be hidden, obscured or
                                                                 interrupted by other written or pictorial matter.
(c) shall be printed on a contrasting background;
 (d) shall not be printed in a place where they may be
     damaged when the packet is opened;
 (e) shall not be printed on the transparent wrapper or
     any other external wrapping.
                          Article 5                                                        Article 5
Adaptation to technical progress in accordance with the          Adaptation to technical progress in accordance with the
procedure provided for in Article 6 shall be limited to the      procedure provided for in Article 6 shall be limited to the
obligatory indications given on cigarette packets as             methods of measurement of the obligatory indications of
provided for in Article 3 as well as to the health               tar and nicotine yields on cigarette packets as provided
warnings laid down in Article 4.                                 for in Article 3.
                          Article 6                                                        Article 6
With a view to the adaptation to technical progress              unchanged
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.
                          Article 7                                                        Article 7
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the         unchanged
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.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 62/16                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 11. 3. 89
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                    MODIFIED PROPOSAL
                           Article 8                                                          Article 8
Member States may not prohibit or restrict the sale of              1.     Member States may not, for reasons of labelling,
products which conform to this Directive.                          prohibit or restrict 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 public health, provided such
                                                                   rules do not imply any changes to labelling as laid down
                                                                   in this Directive.
                           Article 9                                                          Article 9
1.     Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations              1.     Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations and
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with             administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
this Directive before 31 December 1990. They shall                 Directive before 1 July 1990.
forthwith inform the Commission thereof. However,
products existing at that date which do not comply with            They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof and
this Directive may still be put on sale until 31 December          communicate to it the provisions of national law which
1992.                                                              they adopt in the field governed 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 the                       2.     Member States shall bring into force the above laws,
Commission the provisions of national law which they               regulations and administrative provisions before 31
adopt in the field governed by this Directive.                      December 1991.
                                                                    However, products existing at that date which do not
                                                                   comply with this Directive may 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 implementation.
                                                                   The Commission shall publish it in the Official Journal of
                                                                    the European Communites.
                          Article 10                                                          Article 10
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.                  unchanged
                                                             ANNEX
                    List of health warnings                                                List of warnings
 I. Which must be included in the list of warnings to be drawn       I. unchanged
    up by Member States:
    (a) Smoking causes cancer                                           (a) unchanged
    (b) Smoking causes heart disease                                    (b) unchanged
 ---pagebreak--- 11. 3. 89                                Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s                       N o C 62/17
                             ORIGINAL TEXT                                                                   MODIFIED PROPOSAL
II. Which may be included in the list of warnings to be drawn               II. unchanged
    up by the Member States:
    (a) Smoking causes fatal diseases                                            (a) unchanged
    (b) Smoking can kill you                                                     (b) Smoking kills
    (c) Smoking when pregnant can injure your baby                               (c) Pregnant women: smoking harms your baby
    (d) Stopping smoking reduces the risk of serious disease                     (d) unchanged
    (e) Smoking causes lung cancer, bronchitis and other chest                   (e) Smoking causes lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and
        diseases                                                                      other chest diseases
    (f) More than (. . .) people die each year in (name of the                   (f) unchanged
        country) from lung cancer
    (g) Smokers die younger                                                      (g) Smokers die prematurely
                                                                                 (h) Smoking damages the health of those around you
                                                                                 (i) Protect children from tobacco smoke — you yourself
                                                                                      have the right to choose
                                                                                 (j) Every year, . . . (nationality) are killed in road accidents
                                                                                      . . . times more die from their addiction to smoking
                                                                                 (k) Don't smoke if you want to stay healthy
                                                                                 (1) Save money: stop smoking