Brussels, 28/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament and Council delegations to the conciliation committee reached, towards 2: 30am in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, an agreement over a common draft Directive on tobacco products that should allow to tighten the protection of consumer health and the smoking prevention measures. This text, which must be approved by the Parliament plenary and by the Council, will enter into force on 30 September 2002, but certain provisions will effectively only be implemented later or left to the appreciation of the Member States.
The draft Directive foresees that the main warning should cover 30% of the front side of the cigarette packet, the additional warning covering 40% of the rear surface. The Member States that so desire, can foresee the use of photographs or drawings. The use of the terms "light", ultra-light", etc will be banned. The maximum content authorised of 1mg for nicotine and 10mg for carbon monoxide are introduced, while the maximum tar content is lowered from 12mg to 10mg per cigarette. These new standards will be enforced on products marketed in the EU as of 1 January 2004. For the exports towards third countries of products manufactured in the EU, a derogation is foreseen until 1 January 2005, date on which the Member States will be able to impose the new export standards, but will only be obliged to do so as of 1 January 2007. The Commission will have to produce a report on the implementation of the Directive before 31 December 2004 and present, in this context, a draft Directive foreseeing a common list of ingredients for tobacco products. These provisions take into account the Council's common position (see EUROPE of 30 June 2000) and the additional amendments adopted by the Parliament in second reading (see bulletin of 15 December 2000, page 9).
During a joint press conference, the first of its kind following a conciliation, as underlined by, Vice-President Renzo Imbeni (Democratici di sinistra), welcomed the results obtained notably with regards to the reduction in contents, the increase in the size of the warnings and the ban on terms such as "light" or "ultra light". EUROPE recalls that the EP was opposed to this in second reading. It recognised that other demands made by the Parliament, notably the printing of a warning on the cigarette vending machines, where not met. The Swedish Health Minister, Lars Engqvist also said he was very pleased with the results of the negotiation. This text shows that the EU take care of health, he said, adding: "We want everybody to be well informed and that industry to be obliged to give correct information to consumers." The Commission, Parliament and Council demonstrated the extent to which the European law making machine can be effective, said Commissioner David Byrne, while recalling that less than fifteen months have past since the Commission proposal. My main priority is to help ensure that the young do not start smoking, he said while insisting on the need to fight against smoking, which is responsible for the deaths of 500,000 people each year in the Union. Recalling that the number of smokers is below 20% in the United States, he explained that the EU must do its utmost to make up this delay. He indicated that the next stage would be, before the Health Council next May, the presentation of legislative proposals on advertising. The EP rapporteur, Jules Maaten (Dutch Liberal) felt that the text from the conciliation is better that the previous versions by the EP and Council. He insisted on the provisions that foresee a common list of ingredients or the ability to use illustrations on advertising as well as the preamble that mentions Community aid to tobacco farming. Answering a question on the terms "light" associated to the name of the brand and registered as such, Mr Maaten answered that they also fall under the ban. While underlining that the industry has never truly fought on this ground, he recalled that the registering of a brand does not lead to an automatic authorisation to market it, but simply means the protection of a commercial name.