CELEX: 51990PC0147
Language: en
Date: 1990-04-19
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE AUTHORIZED ADVERTISING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN THE PRESS AND BY MEANS OF BILLS AND POSTERS

11.5.90                              Official Journal of the European Communities                               N o C 116/7
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
              Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the authorized advertising of tobacco products in
                                       the press and by means of bills and posters (')
                                               COM(90) 147 final — SYN 194
               (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 19 April 1990)
                                                       (90/C 116/05)
              (') OJ No C 124, 19. 5. 1989, p. 5 (COM(89) 163 final 12 — SYN 194).
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                  AMENDED PROPOSAL
 Proposal for a Council Directive on the advertising of           Amended proposal for a Council Directive on the auth-
 tobacco products in the press and by means of bills and          orized advertising of tobacco products in the press and by
posters                                                           means of bills and posters
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          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 (1),            Unchanged
In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),                  Unchanged
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  Unchanged
Social Committee (3),
Whereas there are differences between the laws, regu-             Whereas there are differences between the laws, regu-
lations and administrative provisions of the Member               lations and administrative provisions of the Member
States on tobacco advertising in the press and by means           States on authorized tobacco advertising in the press and
of bills and posters; whereas advertising by these means          by means of bills and posters; whereas authorized adver-
transcends the borders of the Member States and                   tising by these means transcends the barriers of the
whereas such differences are likely to constitute barriers        Member States and whereas such differences are likely to
to trade, distort competition and thus impede the estab-          constitute barriers to trade, distort competition and thus
lishment and operation of the internal market;                    impede the establishment and operation of the internal
                                                                  market;
Whereas obstacles should be eliminated and, to this end,         Whereas obstacles should be eliminated and, to this end,
the rules relating to tobacco advertising by the above           the rules relating to authorized tobacco advertising by
means should be harmonized, leaving Member States the            the above means should be harmonized, leaving Member
possibility of introducing, under certain conditions, the         States the possibility of introducing, under certain
measures they consider necessary to guarantee the health         conditions, the measures they consider necessary to
protection of their citizens;                                    guarantee the health protection of their citizens.
(') OJ N o C 124, 19. 5. 1989.
O Sitting of 14. 3. 1990.
(3) OJ N o C 62, 12. 3. 1990.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 116/8                            Official Journal of the European Communities                               11. 5. 90
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                               AMENDED PROPOSAL
                                                                Whereas one of the main objectives of the Member
                                                                States of the European Commission is to bring about
                                                                steady improvements in the living and working
                                                                conditions of their citizens;
                                                                Whereas Article 100a (3) of the EEC Treaty stipulates
                                                                that the Commission, in its proposals concerning health,
                                                                safety,    environmental    protection  and    consumer
                                                                protection, should take as a base a high level of
                                                                protection;
Whereas these rules must take due account of public             Whereas it is advisable to ensure that authorized adver-
health protection, in particular in relation to young           tising in the press and by means of bills and posters
people;                                                         provides information on the main features of the
                                                                products which meets the essential requirements
                                                                concerning the health protection of consumers and the
                                                                fairness of commercial transactions;
Whereas the European Council held on 28 and 29 June             Unchanged
in Milan stressed the importance of launching a
European action programme against cancer;
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 on a
programme of action of the European Communities
against cancer (') set for this programme the objective of
contributing to an improvement in the health and quality
of life of citizens within the Community by reducing the
number of illnesses due to cancer and, accordingly,
regarded measures to counter the use of tobacco as their
prime objective;
Whereas the incorporation in tobacco advertising inserts        Unchanged
in the press and by means of bills and posters of a
warning of the health risks entailed in the use of these
products is important for health protection;
Whereas it is necessary to prohibit all indirect forms of       Unchanged
advertising which, whilst not directly mentioning tobacco
products, seek to promote, tobacco products by using
trade marks, emblems, symbols or other distinctive
features associated with tobacco products;
                                                                Whereas it has been shown that young people are ready-
                                                                made victims of advertising and that dependency on
                                                                tobacco begins at a young age;
Whereas special provisions should ensure the protection         Unchanged
of young people against the advertising of tobacco
products;
                                                                Whereas these common rules relating only to authorized
                                                                tobacco advertising in the press and by means of bills
                                                                and posters shall not apply in the event of a complete
                                                                ban;
                                                                Whereas this Directive represents the first stage in a
                                                                 harmonization which should guarantee the free circu-
                                                                 lation of goods aimed at for 31 December 1992,
O OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 19.
 ---pagebreak--- 11.5.90                               Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 116/9
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                 AMENDED PROPOSAL
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                     HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                          Article 1                                                        Article 1
                                                                This Directive concerns the harmonization of the laws,
                                                                regulations and administrative provisions of the Member
                                                                States on authorized tobacco advertising in the press and
                                                                by means of bills and posters.
For the purposes of this Directive, 'tobacco products'          Unchanged
means products intended to be smoked, sniffed, sucked
or chewed, in as much as they are, even partly, made of
tobacco.
                          Article 2                                                        Article 2
1.     Advertisements for cigarettes in the press and by         1.    Advertisements for cigarettes in the press and by
means of bills and posters shall carry specific warnings        means of bills and posters shall carry specific warnings
alternating according to the following rules:                   alternating according to the following rules:
— each Member State shall draw up a list of warnings            — each Member State shall draw up a list of warnings
    based on those listed in the Annex,                              based solely on those listed in the Annex,
— the specific warnings so adopted shall be printed             — the specific warnings so adopted shall be printed
     against a contrasting background on inserts and in              horizontally against a contrasting background on
    such a way as to guarantee an equal frequency of                 inserts and in such a way as to guarantee an equal
     display for each warning, allowing for a 5 % margin.            frequency of display for each warning, allowing for a
                                                                     5 % margin.
2.     Advertising in the press and by means of bills and        2.    Advertising in the press and by means of bills and
posters of tobacco products other than cigarettes shall          posters of tobacco products other than cigarettes shall
carry the general warning: 'Tobacco seriously damages            carry the general warning 'Tobacco seriously damages
your health'.                                                   your health', printed horizontally against a contrasting
                                                                 background.
                                                                 3.    The warnings referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2
                                                                 shall, when appearing in the press, be in the same
                                                                 language as that used in the publication and, in the case
                                                                 of bills and posters, shall be in the language or languages
                                                                 of the country in which such bills and posters are shown.
3.     Member States may stipulate that the warnings             4.    Member States may stipulate that the warnings
referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall bear the name of         referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall bear the name of
the issuing authority.                                           the issuing authority.
4.     The text of the warnings mentioned in paragraphs          5.    The text of the warnings mentioned in paragraphs
1 and 2 shall cover a minimum of 10 % of the total               1 and 2 shall cover a minimum of 10 % of the total
advertising insert, excluding the name of any authority as       advertising insert, excluding the name of any authority as
referred to in paragraph 3. The percentage shall be              referred to in paragraph 3. The percentage shall be
raised to at least 15 % where the warning is in two              raised to at least 15 % where the warning is in two
languages and to at least 20 % where it is in three or           languages and to at least 20 % where it is in three or
more languages.                                                  more languages.
                           Article 3                                                        Article 3
 1.    The content of advertisements in the press and on         Unchanged
bills and posters shall be restricted solely to the presen-
tation of the packaging of the tobacco products, possibly
with the addition of information on the features of the
product.
 ---pagebreak---  N o C 116/10                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                  11. 5. 90
                        ORIGINAL TEXT                                                AMENDED PROPOSAL
 2.    Advertising in the press and by means of bills and         2.   To prevent the provision in paragraph 1 of this
 posters which, whilst not directly mentioning the tobacco       Article from being circumvented, advertising in the press
 product, refers to a trade mark, emblem, symbol or other         and by means of bills and posters which, whilst not
 distinctive feature mainly used in connection with              directly mentioning the tobacco product, refers to a
 tobacco products shall be prohibited.                           trade mark, emblem, symbol or other distinctive feature
                                                                 mainly used in connection with tobacco products shall be
                                                                 prohibited.
                                                                 3.    The preceding paragraph shall not apply when the
                                                                 identity of a tobacco trade mark with the trade mark of
                                                                 a product other than tobacco which is marketed by
                                                                 undertakings that are legally and financially distinct from
                                                                 one another is purely fortuitous.
                          Article 4                                                       Article 4
Member States shall prohibit all advertising for tobacco         Unchanged
products in publications mainly intended for people
under 18.
                          Article 5                                                       Article 5
 1.    The Member States may not cite tobacco adver-             Unchanged
tising as the reason for prohibiting or restricting the sale
of newspapers, magazines and publications of a similar
kind or the display of bills and posters which comply
with this Directive.
2.     The provisions of this Directive shall not affect the     2.    The Commission will report to the Council, before
right of Member States to introduce measures                     31 December 1991, on the evolution of the situation in
concerning tobacco advertising, in accordance with the           the Member States, notably following the implemen-
Treaty, which they deem necessary to guarantee the               tation of this Directive, and at the same time will
health protection of their citizens provided that such           propose the necessary measures to guarantee the free
measures do not imply modifications of the content or of         circulation of goods aimed at for 31 December 1992.
the form of advertisements as provided by this Directive.
                          Article 6                                                       Article 6
1.     Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations           Unchanged
and administrative provisions necessary to comply with
this Directive by 31 December 1991. They shall
forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
The provisions adopted pursuant to the first paragraph
shall make express reference to this Directive.
2.     Member States shall communicate to the
Commission the text of the main provisions of national
law which they adopt in the fields governed by this
Directive.
                          Article 7                                                      Article 7
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.                Unchanged
 ---pagebreak--- Ilm^O                              COffici^l]ourn^lo^rli^Euroo^nC^ornrnunin^                             ^odMoBt^
                    LIST OF HEALTHWARNINGS, AS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE2(n
      (a) Warnings ^hich must appear in the national lists^
          t. Smoking causes cancer
          ^. Smoking causes heart disease
      (b) Warnings from ^hich the Member States may chooser
            t. Smoking causes fatal diseases
           ^. Smoking kills
           ^. pregnant ^omen^ smoking harms your baby
           ^t. protect children from tohacco smoke
           ^. Smoking damages the health of those around you
           D. Stopping smoking reduces the risk of serious diseases
           7. Smoking causes lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and other chest diseases
           8. More than...people die each year in...(name of the country) from lung cancer
           ^. E^eryyear . . . (name of nationals^ a country) dieinroad accidents^ . . . timesmore diefrom
               smoking
          tO. Smokers die before their time
          It. Uon^tsmoke if you ^ant to stay healthy
          t^. Sav^e moneys stop smoking