CELEX: 51987PC0719
Language: en
Date: 1988-01-28
Title: 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 48/8                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  20. 2. 88
                                                              II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and adminis-
                  trative provisions of the Member States concerning the labelling of tobacco products
                                                      COM(87) 719 final
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 4 February 1988)
                                                         (88/C 48/09)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                           Whereas the printing of health warnings on the
                                                                   packaging of all tobacco products concerning the risks of
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              use of tobacco products are a vital factor in the
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a                 protection of public health;
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                 Whereas, for the purpose   of improving health protection,
                                                                   the indication of the tar and nicotine yield on cigarette
                                                                   packets is essential for    the health information and
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                       education of the general   public,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                  Whereas this Directive calls for minimum provisions
                                                                   which will be reviewed on the basis of experience gained
Whereas there are differences between the laws, regu-              and the development of medical knowledge in this area,
lations and administrative provisions of the Member                the objective being to achieve greater protection of indi-
States on the labelling of tobacco products; whereas such          viduals,
differences are likely to constitute barriers to trade and
to impede the establishment and operation of the internal
market;                                                            HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Whereas those obstacles should accordingly be elim-
inated and whereas to that end the marketing and free                                       Article 1
movement of tobacco products must be made subject to
uniform rules concerning labelling;                                The objective of this Directive is the harmonization of
                                                                   the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
Whereas such common rules must take due account of                 Member States concerning the medical warnings on the
public health protection;                                          unit packet of tobacco products and the indication of the
                                                                   tar and nicotine yield on cigarette packets, taking as a
                                                                   base a high level of health protection.
Whereas the European Council held in Milan on 28 and
29 June 1985 stressed the importance of launching a
European action programme against cancer;
                                                                                            Article 2
Whereas the Council and the Representatives of the                 For the purposes of this Directive:
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                      1. 'tobacco products' means products for the purpose of
improvement of the health and quality of life of citizens             smoking, sniffing, sucking or chewing, in as much as
within the Community by reducing the number of                        they are, even partly, made of tobacco;
cancers; whereas they have for this purpose identified the
fight against the use of tobacco products as their prime           2. 'tar' means the raw           anhydrous    nicotine-free
objective;                                                            condensate of smoke;
(') OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 19.                               3. 'nicotine' means nicotinic alkaloids.
 ---pagebreak--- 20. 2. 88                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               No C 48/9
                           Article 3                              (e) shall not be printed on the transparent wrapper or
                                                                       any other external wrapping.
1.     The tar and nicotine yields to be indicated on
cigarette packets shall be measured on the basis of the
                                                                                            Article 5
ISO 4387 and ISO 3400 methods respectively, or any
other method which yields equivalent results.                     Adaptation to technical progress in accordance with the
                                                                  procedure provided for in Article 6 shall be limited to the
2.     Indications on packets shall be considered                 obligatory indications given on cigarette packets as
acceptable where they do not differ by more than 1 mg             provided for in Article 3 (1) as well as to the health
from the results of tests carried out by the bodies               warnings laid down in Article 4 (1) and (2).
designated for that purpose by the Member States.
                                                                                            Article 6
3.     The indications concerned shall be printed in the
official language or languages of the consumer's country          With a view to the adaptation to technical progress
on the side of the packet or on a mobile part of the              referred to in Article 5, the Commission shall be assisted
packet in clearly visible print on a contrasting back-            by a Committee of an advisory nature composed of
ground.                                                           representatives of the Member States and chaired by the
                                                                  representative of the Commission.
                           Article 4
                                                                                            Article 7
1.     All units of packaging of tobacco products shall
                                                                  The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
carry the following warning in the official language or
                                                                  Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The
languages of the consumer's country, on one of the two
                                                                  Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a
largest surfaces: 'Tobacco seriously damages health'.
                                                                  time limit which the chairman may lay down according
                                                                  to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a
2.     With regard to cigarette packets, the other large          vote.
surface shall carry in the official language or languages
of the consumer's country a specific warning.                     The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in
                                                                  addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask
For this purpose, each Member State shall draw up a list
                                                                  to have its position recorded in the minutes.
of warnings taken from those listed in the Annex. That
list must include however the following warnings:                 The Commission shall take the utmost account of the
                                                                  opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform the
(a) smoking causes cancer;
                                                                  committee of the manner in which its opinion has been
(b) smoking causes heart disease.                                 taken into account.
Those warnings shall appear on the unit of packaging                                        Article 8
according to a formula adopted by each Member State
in such a way as to guarantee an equal frequency of               Member States may not prohibit or restrict the sale of
display for each warning.                                         products which conform to this Directive.
3.     The warnings provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2                                      Article 9
shall be printed in letters of a minimum size of 3 mm and         1.    Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations
in such a way as to cover at least 2 % of the total               and administrative provisions necessary to comply with
surface of the corresponding side of the unit of                  this Directive before 31 December 1990. They shall
packaging.                                                        forthwith inform the Commission thereof. However,
                                                                  products existing at that date which do not comply with
The required warnings on the two sides of each unit of            this Directive may still be put on sale until 31 December
packaging:                                                        1992..
(a) shall be clear and legible;                                   2.    Member States shall communicate to the
(b) shall be printed in bold letters;                             Commission the provisions of national law which they
                                                                  adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
(c) shall be printed on a contrasting background;
                                                                                           Article 10
(d) shall not be printed in a place where they may be
     damanged when the packet is opened;                          This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 48/10                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    20. 2. 88
                                                                 ANNEX
                                                         List of health warnings
              I. Which must be included in the list of warnings to be drawn up by Member States:
                 (a) Smoking causes cancer;
                 (b) Smoking causes heart disease.
             II. Which may be included in the list of warnings to be drawn up by the Members States:
                 (a) Smoking causes fatal diseases;
                 (b) Smoking can kill you;
                 (c) Smoking when pregnant can injure your baby;
                 (d) Stopping smoking reduces the risk of serious disease;
                 (e) Smoking causes lung cancer, bronchitis and other chest diseases;
                 (f) More than (. . .) people die each year in (name of the country) from lung cancer;
                 (g) Smokers die younger.
             Proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and adminis-
                 trative provisions of the Member States concerning the maximum tar yield of cigarettes
                                                          COM(87) 720 final
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 4 February 1988)
                                                             (88/C 48/10)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                European Council held in Milan on 28 and 29 June 1985
                                                                        stressed the importance of launching a European action
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                   programme against cancer;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100
thereof,                                                                Whereas in their resolution of 7 July 1986 ('), the
                                                                        Council and the Representatives of the Governments of
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                      the Member States meeting within the Council
                                                                        considered that measures to combat smoking were a
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                            priority;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                                        Whereas this Directive contains minimum provisions
Social Committee,
                                                                        which will be reviewed on the basis of experience gained,
Whereas there are differences betwen the laws, regu-                    the development of techniques and medical knowledge in
lations and administrative provisions of the Member                     this area, the objective being to achieve greater
States on the limitation of the maximum tar content of                  protection of individuals,
cigarettes; whereas such differences are liable to
constitute barriers to trade and to impede the estab-                   HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
lishmend and operation of the internal market;
Whereas those obstacles should accordingly be elim-                                               Article 1
inated; whereas to that end the marketing and free
                                                                        The objective of this Directive is the harmonization of
movement of cigarettes must be made subject to uniform
                                                                        the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the
rules concerning maximum tar content;
                                                                        Member States concerning the maximum tar yield of
                                                                        cigarettes, taking as a base a high level of health
Whereas such common rules must take due account of
                                                                        protection.
public health protection;
Whereas the higher the tar content of smoked tobacco,
the greater the risk of lung cancer; whereas the                        0) OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 19.