Summary: In 2001, a directive of the European Parliament and Council concerning the use of health warnings on cigarette packages became law. European Commission (EC) member states were required to display text warnings that covered a minimum of 30% of the "front" and 40% of the "back" of packages. The size on the "back" must be 45% for member states with two official languages and 50% for member states with three official languages. The EC has also provided its 27 member states with an optional series of 42 pictorial warnings. Belgium was the first country to implement the pictorial warnings on packages, beginning in April 2007, followed by several other member states. The EC directive also prohibits the terms "light" and "mild" from appearing on packages. As well, the EC directive requires tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide emission numbers to appear on the side of packages. These emission numbers are generated using the ISO machine smoking method.

Label Images

Click on the links below to access the European Union's Health Warnings and Constituent Messages Galleries

Europe's Health Warnings Gallery

Europe's Constituent Messages Gallery

Legislation and Regulations

Listed below are documents relating to the implementation and regulation of picture-based health warnings in the European Union member states.

European Union's Directive on Tobacco - Article 5 and 6 on Warning Labels (Officlal Jour European Communities) (2001)

English

French

European Union's Graphic Warning Commission Decision - Decision On Use of Colour (Official Jour European Communities) (2003)

English

French

European Union's Commission Decision on Colour Photographs and Illustrations as Health Warnings on Tobacco Packages (2006)

English

French

Health Warnings Documents

A review of evidence on the effectiveness of text and pictoral warnings for the European Union is listed below.

Labelling of Tobacco Products in the European Union (Government Report - EBASP)

European Union

1993

Targeting Smokers Via Tobacco Product Labelling Opportunities and Challenges For Pan European Health Promotion (Health Promotion International - Delvin et al.)

European Union

2005

Showing Leads to Doing Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels Are An Effective Public Health Policy (Eur Jour Publ Jealth editorial - Hammond)

European Union

2006

European Community Directive on Packaging and Labelling of Tobacco Products (WHO report - Joussens)

European Union

2007

Survey on Tobacco Analytic Report (Gallup Organisation - EC report)

European Union

2009

Constituent & Emissions Labelling

A review of evidence on the labelling and disclosure of chemicals found in tobacco products for the European Union is listed below.

Consumer Perception of Cigarette Yields Is the Message Relevant (Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology - Gori)
European Union
1990

Other Documents

Listed below are two documents, one is an article from a 2004 conference in Brussels and the other is a factsheet titled "The Effectiveness of Pictoral Health Warnings on Tobacco Products."

EU Fight Against Tobacco Continues With Graphic Picture Warnings and €72 Million Media Campaign Conference Article (2004)

The Effectiveness of Pictoral Health Warnings on Tobacco Products Factsheet (2007)