EU Parliament OKs New Cigarette Warnings

Health warnings on European cigarette packages could cover about one-third of the wrapper under a measure approved by the European Parliament. The new rules, if approved by member governments, also would force cigarette makers to put graphic warnings on their products, such as pictures of a diseased mouth, a cancerous lung or a brain damaged by a stroke. The EU health ministers are to meet in special session today to debate the issue. If they endorse it, the measure becomes law across the 15 EU states. The bill offers three choices for lettered warnings: “Smoking kills half a million people each year in the European Union,” “Passive smoking harms those around you, especially children,” or simply--albeit in much bigger letters--”Smoking kills.” The messages would begin in 2003. Other changes would include a forced reduction in the amount of tar and nicotine in cigarettes sold within the EU and the posting of health warnings on vending machines.