Tag: Graphic Health Warnings

Taiwan to Increase Size of Health Warnings

Image: Andrii
In Taiwan, graphic health warnings will soon have to cover at least 50 percent of cigarette packages, an increase from the current requirement of 35 percent, according to the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), reports Focus Taiwan.
The new rules take effect Friday, March 22, 2024, following the expiration of a one-year transition period.
Manufacturers caught violating the rules will face fines up to NTD5 million ($156,629), and those caught selling improperly labeled products will face fines up to NTD50,000.
According to HPA Director General Wu Chao-chun, 122 countries and territories require graphic health warnings covering at least half of packaging, exceeding the World Health Organization recommendation of at least 30 percent.
The HPA has sent officials around Taiwan to promote the upcoming policy, making sure that those affected are aware of the changes, according to Lo Su-ying, head of the HPA’s Tobacco Control Division.
March 21, 2024
Canada Rolls Out New Health Warnings
Canada has started rolling out 14 new graphic health warnings on cigarette packs, reports Yahoo Finance. Manufacturers must ensure the new labels are on packages by Jan. 31, and retailers are required to stock the packs by April 30, according to Health Canada.
The new labels feature smoking-related illnesses such as tongue, stomach and neck cancer, as well as gangrene. Canada pioneered the concept of graphic health warnings in 2001 and has frequently updated its image library to prevent the pictures from losing their shock value.
The latest set of photo warnings also build on various other harms of smoking, including heart attack, brain damage and death from stroke as well as impotence due to reduced blood flow to the penis.
Another set of 14 photo warnings is expected to appear on cigarette packages in two years.
Last year, the government also required cigarette manufacturers to print health warnings on individual cigarette sticks. Cigarettes now include messages, such as “poison in every puff,” in English and French.
Canada aims to slash smoking rates from about 10 percent to less than 5 percent by 2035.
January 19, 2024
Australia Adds Vape Graphic Warnings

Potential new graphic health warnings as envisioned by Australia’s Department of Health and Aged Care
Australia will extend the requirement for manufacturers to print graphic health warnings on tobacco products to e-cigarettes, according to reports by CityNews and News. Manufacturers have until April 1, 2024, to roll out “repulsive” new health warnings on cigarette and vape packets. Retailers will be given a further three months to update their stock as new warning labels are gradually rolled out.
On Dec. 7, the country’s federal parliament passed a law with measures to discourage smoking and vaping. Among other provisions, the legislation updates the health warnings on cigarette packages, standardizes the design and appearance of cigarette filters and applies tobacco advertising restrictions to vapor products.
Earlier, Australia had announced a ban on single-use vapes that will take effect at the start of 2024. Starting in March, it will also be illegal to import or supply vapes that don’t comply with standards from the medical regulator. Doctors and nurses would still be able to prescribe therapeutic vapes as a tool to help smokers quit.
Health Minister Mark Butler said the new smoking laws would save lives.
“Tobacco has caused immeasurable harm and cost us countless lives in this country,” he told parliament. “We can’t stand by and allow another generation of people to be lured into addiction and suffer the enormous health, economic and social consequences.”
About 20 percent of Australian 18-year-olds to 24-year-olds vape while about one in seven 14-year-olds to 17-year-olds use the product.
December 7, 2023
Court Urged to Permit U.S. Graphic Warnings

Image: FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration urged a federal appeals court to let a regulation requiring graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging and promotions take effect, a year after it was blocked by a lower court, reports Reuters.
On Dec. 5, FDA representative Lindsey Powell told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the images on the proposed labels are necessary because text-only warnings failed to deter teenagers from starting to smoke. The labels would include 11 graphic images, such as diseased feet with amputated toes, to illustrate the risks of smoking.
The tobacco companies that challenged the regulation have argued that the graphic labels violate their right to free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by compelling them to make emotionally charged, controversial statements rather than mere facts like existing written labels stating that smoking can cause cancer.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 instructs the FDA to create visual health warnings, but the D.C. Circuit in 2012 blocked the agency’s first attempt, saying that regulators had not convincingly demonstrated that the warnings would actually reduce smoking.
In March 2020, the FDA released the final rule requiring new graphic warnings for cigarettes that feature some of the lesser known but still serious health risks of smoking, such as diabetes, on the top half of the front and back of cigarette packages and at least 20 percent of the area on the top of cigarette advertisements.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., ITG Brands and Liggett Group filed a First Amendment challenge in April 2020. The rule was set to take effect in November 2023 after it was repeatedly pushed back by court.
In a lengthy opinion issued Dec. 7, 2022, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the FDA’s rule after finding that the required label statements and graphic images are not narrowly tailored to the agency’s interest in promoting public awareness of the health risks of smoking.
December 6, 2023
Bangladesh Urged Against Interference

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
Bangladesh should monitor the tobacco industry’s attempts to influence the formulation and implementation of graphic health warnings, according to a new study in the British Medical Journal’s Tobacco Control, reports United News of Bangladesh.
The study, “Tobacco Industry Interference to Undermine the Development and Implementation of Graphic Health Warnings in Bangladesh,” examines the tobacco industry’s efforts to “delay and weaken” the implementation of graphic health warnings in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers’ Association was the most active industry actor in “interfering” with the process, according to the study, while BAT Bangladesh was most active and the only company that acted alone to thwart graphic health warning implementation.
The study urges the government to adopt the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s Article 5.3 guidelines and make their implementation a policy priority.
May 1, 2023
FDA Appeals Rejection of Graphic Warnings

Image: FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has appealed a court ruling that found the agency’s graphic health warning rule unconstitutional, reports CSP.
On Dec. 7, a federal judge in Texas blocked the FDA from enforcing a rule requiring tobacco companies to print graphic health warnings on their products, saying they violated free speech protections under the First Amendment.
The graphic cigarette health warning rule required manufacturers and retailers who sell cigarettes to rotate 11 health warnings on cigarette packs, which consisted of textual statements and color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of cigarette smoking.
The Texas court said the graphic cigarette health warnings would have compelled manufacturers and retailers to speak by displaying cigarette packages on store shelves and advertising cigarettes when, if given the choice, manufacturers and retailers would choose not to do so. The court also said the warnings were not purely factual and were open to interpretation by consumers and more extensive than necessary.
The FDA appealed that decision on Feb. 1 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, according to court documents.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 instructs the FDA to create visual health warnings, but the D.C. Circuit in 2012 blocked the agency’s first attempt, saying that regulators had not convincingly demonstrated that the warnings would actually reduce smoking.
In March 2020, the FDA released the final rule requiring new graphic warnings for cigarettes that feature some of the lesser known but still serious health risks of smoking, such as diabetes, on the top half of the front and back of cigarette packages and at least 20 percent of the area on the top of cigarette advertisements.
Several tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., filed a First Amendment challenge in April 2020. The rule was set to take effect in November 2023 after the deadline was repeatedly pushed back by court.
According to health groups, the U.S. has fallen behind other countries with its tobacco control policies. Prior to 2009, when Congress passed the Tobacco Control Act, only 18 countries required graphic warnings for tobacco products, they pointed out. Today, more than 120 countries require them.
February 24, 2023
Court Blocks FDA Graphic Health Warnings

Image: FDA
A federal judge has blocked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from enforcing a rule requiring tobacco manufacturers to print graphic warning labels on their products, citing the companies’ First Amendment rights, reports Law360.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 instructs the FDA to create visual health warnings, but the D.C. Circuit in 2012 blocked the agency’s first attempt, saying that regulators had not convincingly demonstrated that the warnings would actually reduce smoking.
In March 2020, the FDA released the final rule requiring new graphic warnings for cigarettes that feature some of the lesser known but still serious health risks of smoking, such as diabetes, on the top half of the front and back of cigarette packages and at least 20 percent of the area on the top of cigarette advertisements.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., ITG Brands and Liggett Group filed a First Amendment challenge in April 2020. The rule was set to take effect in November 2023 after it was repeatedly pushed back by court.
In a lengthy opinion issued Dec. 7, U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the FDA’s rule after finding that the required label statements and graphic images are not narrowly tailored to the agency’s interest in promoting public awareness of the health risks of smoking.
“The government has not shown that compelling these large graphic warnings is necessary in light of other options,” the judge said, noting that the government could put more effort into public awareness campaigns.
Public health campaigners were aghast. “Today’s decision by a federal judge to block implementation of graphic cigarette warnings ordered by the Food and Drug Administration is wrong on the law, inconsistent with decades of precedent and harms public health,” read a joint statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Truth Initiative.
“We urge the justice department to appeal this decision, and we are confident that the FDA’s warnings will ultimately be upheld by a higher court.”
The health groups also noted that the U.S. had fallen behind other countries with its tobacco control policies. Prior to 2009, when Congress passed the Tobacco Control Act, only 18 countries required graphic warnings for tobacco products, they pointed out. Today, more than 120 countries require them.
December 8, 2022
U.S. Health Warnings Date Pushed Back Again

Image: FDA
A U.S. court has postponed the effective date of the Food and Drug Administration’s graphic cigarette health warning regulation from Oct. 6, 2023, to Nov. 6, 2023, reports Convenience Store News. The ruling represents at least the 10th judge-ordered delay.
Issued on Nov. 7, the court order also pushes back the preferred filing deadline for manufacturers and retailers to submit cigarette health warning rotational plans to the FDA by 31 days, according to the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO).
Each manufacturer and retailer that creates its own cigarette advertisements is required to file a plan with the FDA that sets forth the schedule for rotating the eleven graphic cigarette health warnings on cigarette advertisements. The preferred filing deadline for cigarette health warning rotational plans should now be Jan. 6, 2023, NATO said.
The FDA released its final rule requiring new graphic warnings for cigarettes in March 2020. The rule calls for labels that feature some of the lesser known health risks of smoking, such as diabetes. The graphic warnings must cover the top 50 percent of the front and rear panels of packages as well as at least 20 percent of the top of advertisements.
In addition, the warnings must be randomly and equally displayed and distributed on cigarette packages and rotated quarterly in cigarette advertisements.
In April and May 2020, cigarette manufacturers and retailers sued the FDA, arguing that the graphic warning requirements amount to governmental anti-smoking advocacy because the government has never forced makers of a legal product to use their own advertising to spread an emotionally charged message urging adults not to use their products.
In a more recent challenge, tobacco companies argued that the deadline was too onerous due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. They also pointed to the risk that they would lose their investments in new packaging if the graphic health warning requirement were to be thrown out in court.
In March 2021, the Texas District Court granted a motion by the plaintiffs to postpone the effective date of the final rule to April 14, 2022. The move was followed by additional postponements.

November 15, 2022
Tobacco Packaging Innovations Under Fire

Image: Tobacco Reporter archive
The tobacco industry has been developing innovative packaging to minimize the impact of regulatory requirements such as graphic health warnings, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, according to a study published in BMJ Innovations.
Mounting restrictions on tobacco advertising have made the tobacco pack an increasingly important tool for the industry to communicate with its customers. Cigarette packs in effect act as miniature billboards for the product.
Confronted with requirements to print large health warning labels that leave less space for branding, tobacco companies have found ways to maximize and even increase the space available for marketing on packs, according to the study’s authors. Examples include inserts, sliding flip tops and butterfly panels exposing additional surfaces upon opening.
These surfaces often feature bright colors and patterns, intricate imagery, shiny and textured surfaces, and holograms to appeal to customers, according to the authors. The extra “real estate” can be used to include information about contests or marketing appeals and QR codes that lead current and potential smokers to websites that include engagement strategies.
In addition to examples of packaging innovations—which are generally legal—the authors also cite evidence of explicit manipulation of health warnings. Smokeless tobacco packs purchased in India in 2017, for example, featured blurred, stretched and tinted labels. Health warning labels on cigarette packs purchased in Pakistan in 2019 and 2020 were tinted, faded, blurred. In some instances, the background color was changed and the size of throat cancer included in the image was reduced.
The authors did not consider the possibility that some distortions might be a result of poor printing quality rather than deliberate manipulation.
To prevent the industry from developing packaging that reduces the impact of health warnings, the researchers urged lawmakers to require standardized tobacco packs in their jurisdictions.
August 14, 2022
Graphic Warnings Date Postponed Again

Image: FDA
The implementation date for graphic health warnings in the United States has been pushed back by another three months, to Oct. 6, 2023, reports the Winston-Salem Journal.
On Aug. 10, a U.S. District Court Judge in Texas approved the most recent launch date postponement for cigarette manufacturers. It is at least the ninth judge-ordered delay.
The FDA released its final rule requiring new graphic warnings for cigarettes in March 2020. The rule calls for labels that feature some of the lesser known health risks of smoking, such as diabetes. The graphic warnings must cover the top 50 percent of the front and rear panels of packages as well as at least 20 percent of the top of advertisements.
In April and May 2020, cigarette manufacturers and retailers sued the FDA, arguing that the graphic warning requirements amount to governmental anti-smoking advocacy because the government has never forced makers of a legal product to use their own advertising to spread an emotionally charged message urging adults not to use their products.
In a more recent challenge, tobacco companies argued that the deadline was too onerous due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. They also pointed to the risk that they would lose their investments in new packaging if the graphic health warning requirement were to be thrown out in court.
In March 2021, the Texas District Court granted a motion by the plaintiffs to postpone the effective date of the final rule to April 14, 2022. The move was followed by additional postponements.
August 14, 2022