Analysis
The law requires combined text and pictorial health warning labels covering 50% of the front and back of tobacco product packaging. Under 2007 amendments to Law No. 52 of 1981, the following text warning is required: “Warning: Smoking damages health and causes death.” Under implementing regulations contained in the 2010 Bylaw of Law No. 52 of 1981, the following additional warning must be printed under the principal warning: “The damaging effects of smoking strike both the smoker and the non-smoker.” In addition, these textual warnings must be accompanied by a picture - e.g., of a heart, lung, or pregnancy - with explanatory text.
The picture and text should rotate. Several rounds of warnings have been issued with rotation periods of up to two years.
These provisions meet FCTC Art. 11 and align with the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines with respect to size, location, and rotation.
FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines para. 36 provides that “Parties should consider requiring different health warnings and messages for different tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidis, and water pipe tobacco, in order to better focus on the specific health effects related to each product.” To align with the FCTC Art. 11 Guidelines, the law should require health warnings specific to smokeless tobacco products.
