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lubricated)
21. may relieve gout & arthritis pain
7. Boots your metabolism
(drinking enough water helps your burn more
The European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Consumers commissioned research to review health
warnings used on tobacco packages, and recommend a set of future warnings, based on state of the art scientific
knowledge.
Background
There is a great wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating the detrimental health effects on smokers, including increased
risks of heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Research has also highlighted the health risks to nonsmokers from second hand smoke, in particular in the work environment, but also to non-smoking partners / children in
the home environment as well as health damage to foeti in pregnant women. Health warnings on the packages of tobacco
products are a cost-effective tool (the cost is borne by the industry) for communicating the dangers of tobacco usage as
well as encouraging consumers to quit. The first EU wide requirements for tobacco labelling were introduced in 1989
through the labelling Directive (89/622/EEC) and amended in 1992 through Directive 92/41EC. This stated that all tobacco
products should carry specific warnings but only required the warnings to cover 4-8% of the front and back of the pack.
Initially, the health warnings were in text form. The Tobacco Product Directive (2001/37/EC) introduced bolder health
messages and radically increased the size of the warnings and improved their legibility. According to the Directive each
unit packet of tobacco products intended to be smoked must carry a general warning (Smoking Kills / Smoking can kill or
Smoking seriously harms you and others around you) covering at least 30-35% of the front and one of the fourteen
additional warning sets covering at least 40-50% of the back. Non-combustible tobacco products shall carry the general
warning This tobacco product can damage your health and is addictive. The Directive allows Member States to require
additional warnings in the form of colour photographs and other illustrations. For that purpose the Commission adopted
rules for the use of pictorial warnings (Decision 2003/642EC) and established a library of 42 selected sourced documents.
There are three images for each health warning. Member States can choose illustrations most suitable for consumers in
their country. Belgium was the first EU Member State to introduce pictorial warnings on cigarette packs in November
2006, followed by Romania in July 2008 and the UK in October 2008. Latvia has also adopted legislation to require the
use of pictorials from March 2010, and six further EU Member States plan to introduce pictorial warnings in the near
future. Outside the EU the following 15 countries have introduced pictorial warnings: Canada (2000), Brazil (2001),
Singapore (2004), Venezuela (2005), Thailand (2005), Australia (2006), Uruguay (2006), Chile (2006), Jordan (2007),
Hong Kong (2007), New Zealand (2008), Brunei (2008), Egypt (2008), Panama (2008) and Cook Island (2008). Other
countries that have adopted legislation to introduce pictorial warnings in 2009 / 2010 include China, Djibouti, India, Iran,
Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Peru, Switzerland and Vietnam. 6The Commission was therefore keen to obtain a
rigorous review of the current scientific knowledge on health and tobacco labelling, an evaluation of the impact of existing
textual and pictorial warnings, and proposals for future warning messages, based on state of the art knowledge on direct /
indirect tobacco related risks / harm. The results will be used by the Commission to develop proposals for a new set of
warning texts and graphical images (based on reliable scientific evidence) that will be more effective in warning
consumers of the potential risks and harm associated with both direct and passive smoking.
Agriculture to operate the SERMAH Educational Development Center (Introducing SERMAH, Ministry of Agriculture,
1996) as a central agency for the providing of farming practices instructional materials to all universities in Malnesia. The
selection and training of student volunteers is conducted autonomously at each university with the support of the
instructional materials disseminated by the SERMAH Educational Development Center.