The European Parliament gave final approval yesterday to an EU directive requiring tobacco manufacturers to put graphic, large-print health warnings on cigarette packets, among other hard-hitting measures.
In the legislative pipeline since January last year, the directive was finalised during conciliation talks in Brussels last February between MEPs and the Council of Ministers, which represents the 15 EU member-states.
Under the directive, cigarette packets are to bear the words "Smoking kills" or "Smoking seriously harms you and others around you" across 30 per cent of the front side, with an even bigger additional warning on the back.
Other parts of the directive include a ban on such marketing terms as "mild," "light" and "low tar".
