European Union Gets Tougher on Cigarettes

Larger warning labels and a menthol ban among regulations backed by Parliament earlier this week.

October 10, 2013

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – The European Parliament earlier this week backed new regulations for cigarettes, requiring them to include larger warning labels while banning flavors such as menthol, the Wall Street Journal reports. It also said electronic cigarettes should be subject to the same rules as tobacco cigarettes.

The vote prompted relief among e-cigarette makers, as EU health ministers earlier this year had proposed treating e-cigarettes as medicinal products, which would have required extensive medical testing while limiting their sale to pharmacies in some EU countries.

The EU’s treatment of e-cigarettes will be followed closely in the U.S., as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to make proposals on how to deal with them as early as this month.

"Whatever law comes, we have to make sure that they're not marketed as gateway products for young people," said Linda McAvan, a lawmaker for the U.K. Labour Party who will be leading the talks with EU health ministers.  McAvan said she hoped to reach a deal on the law before the end of the year, with new restrictions to take effect in 2016.

Lawmakers also voted to increase the size of warning labels to 65% of the front and back of cigarette packages, up from 30% to 40% currently. The warnings must include photos of tobacco-related illnesses and be placed at the top of packages.

Parliament also supported a ban on the sale of lipstick-shaped packages and cigarettes with special flavorings, which they deemed particularly attractive to young women and girls. A menthol ban would be phased in only years after the main law takes effect.

Tobacco companies had lobbied against the new rules and blasted Parliament’s rulings.

Lawmakers "have failed to provide a workable framework for reduced-harm products and have also continued to include oversize graphic health warnings and pack standardization—even though the risks of smoking are already well known," said Drago Azinovic, EU region president for Philip Morris.

While e-cigarettes were treated lighter than expected by Parliament, the new rules would impact their manufacture, sale and distribution as follows: producers would no longer be able to advertise their products on television and would need to ensure that they aren’t sold to minors; and producers wouldn’t be able to market them under well-known cigarette brand names, which could make it more difficult for traditional tobacco companies to expand their reach in the marketplace.

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