Ministers set to approve new tobacco laws

Date: 22/06/2000

By John Shelley

PLANS for tough new EU laws to govern the content, labelling and sale of cigarettes are set to be approved by health ministers next week, although the final shape of the proposed legislation will have to be agreed with the European Parliament at a later stage.

Ministers are expected to endorse the European Commission's proposals at their meeting next Thursday (29 June), just two weeks after they were voted on by MEPs. But diplomats say member states are unlikely to accept most of the assembly's calls for even stricter rules at this stage.

The Commission's proposals would force manufacturers to reduce the level of tar and nicotine in cigarettes and place stark health warnings on packets. One diplomat said she would be "extremely surprised" if member states did not reach political agreement on the plan next week. "There are one or two things that we will need to settle beforehand, but we are not going to have any major problems."

She added that tobacco firms' calls for an indefinite exemption from the legislation for cigarettes intended for export to non-Union countries were unlikely to be heeded, even though MEPs suggested that exporters could be given a breathing space until 2006 to protect jobs.

Under the Commission's proposals, at least 25% of cigarette packets would have to be devoted to health warnings. Labels such as 'low tar', 'light' and 'mild' would also be banned because of evidence that they are no less harmful to health. The tar and carbon monoxide content of cigarettes would be reduced from a maximum of 12 milligrammes to 10mg, and a 1mg ceiling would be introduced for nicotine.

MEPs called for a number of changes to the plan when they voted on it last week, most notably boosting the proportion of packets which must be

devoted to health warnings to at least 35% of the front and 45% of the back.

Diplomats predict that ministers will reject most of these amendments next week, but say they could be taken up later on.

"The feeling among member states is that many of the Parliament's amendments are good and acceptable," said one. "But the member states do not have time to go through them carefully so, for the moment, in the interest of getting it adopted as quickly as possible we will accept only a handful of those amendments. There is plenty of time to go through it all again during the second reading."

The debate on the proposals come as the European Court of Justice is considering a legal challenge to the EU's planned ban on tobacco advertising.

An advocate-general at the court said last week that he believed the legal base used for the measure was wrong. The Commission proposed the ban as a single market measure, allowing it to go through by qualified majority vote, but Germany and the industry insist it is a health issue - an area where the Union has very limited powers.

Plans for tough new EU laws to govern the content, labelling and sale of cigarettes are set to be approved by health ministers on 29.6.00, although the final shape of the proposed legislation will have to be agreed with the European Parliament at a later stage.