| Tobacco Warning Labels |
|
A growing number of countries are including quitline telephone numbers as part of the health warnings for tobacco products. These enhanced health warnings inform smokers about the risks of smoking, encourage them to quit, and link them with evidence-based treatment services for their quit attempt. Experience shows that the number of calls to quitlines more than doubles when the quitline telephone number appears on tobacco packages. In 2010-2011, both Canada and the U.S. have moved forward with regulatory processes to enhance their tobacco health warnings in a variety of ways, including increased size of the warning, updated graphic images, and stronger messages. Final warning labels
have been implemented in Canada; in the U.S., the tobacco industry has filed a lawsuit which has delayed implementation (see below).
US GRAPHIC HEALTH WARNING TIMELINE:On June 21, 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its final rule on new cigarette warning labels. The new rule will increase the size of health warnings, add graphics and messages, and will add 800-QUIT-NOW, a telephone number that connects callers with their state quitline service, to the warning. NAQC hails this as an historic decision that will help smokers quit and improve the health of the Nation. The rule was scheduled to take effect in September 2012.
In December 2012, the US Government’s request for an appeal in the graphic warning label case has been denied. The U.S. Justice Department now will determine whether or not to appeal to the Supreme Court. The government
has 90 days to make a decision. If it decides to make an appeal to the Supreme Court, it will be the last opportunity to gain approval to move forward with graphic warnings (learn more). In March 2013, the US Department of Justice decided not to ask the Supreme Court to review the ruling on the constitutionality of the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed graphic health warnings.There are two
positive notes in the government’s announcement –first, it is noteworthy that the Department of Justice vigorously defended the constitutionality of the graphic warnings in lawsuits
filed by the tobacco industry; and second, the FDA has made a commitment to "go back to the drawing board to develop the warnings as required by legislation
passed by Congress in 2009.” (learn more). In April 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it will not hear the tobacco industry’s appeal of a March 2012 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (which upheld the 2009 law granting FDA authority to regulate tobacco). This decision allows the FDA to move forward with developing new graphic cigarette warnings that comply with both the 2009 law and recent court rulings. The Sixth Circuit ruling recognized that Congress acted appropriately, based on the science and in accordance with First Amendment principles when it granted the FDA authority over tobacco products. (learn more) View FDA ruleView FDA press release View NAQC press release CANADIAN GRAPHIC HEALTH WARNING TIMELINE: On September 27, 2011 Canada’s Harper government gave final approval for new warning labels on cigarette and little cigar packages.
The new regulations have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. Tobacco manufacturers and importers must be using the new labels by March 21, 2012 and retailers must ensure that all packages on their shelves feature the new labels
by June 18, 2012.The new regulations include a toll-free number(866-366-3667) for provincial helplines along with a website. Also now in force are new regulations prohibiting the terms "light" and "mild", and variations thereof, on cigarettes,
little cigars and various other tobacco products and accessories.
IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH WARNING LABELS AROUND THE WORLDHighlighting Australia and New Zealand, the purpose of the case studies below is to describe implementation of warning labels that include a quitline number within a real-world quitline setting, noting the
programmatic and operational issues that emerged and how they were addressed. New Zealand Case Study(PDF 711 KB)
JUSTIFICATION FOR INCLUDING A QUITLINE NUMBER AS PART OF THE HEALTH WARNING:NAQC and many other tobacco control organizations submitted comments on the proposed rule in the U.S. and Canada, encouraging the governments to include an 800 number for quitlines as part of the health warning. Graphic images and messages that are part of the health warning on tobacco packages are intended to motivate smokers to consider a quit attempt. By including the telephone number for quitlines, the health warning would link smokers who are motivated to quit with treatment services that will make their quit attempt more likely to succeed. This and other supporting arguments for including a quitline telephone number on tobacco packages can be reviewed in the linked comments: NAQC's full comments to the FDA Tobacco Labeling Resource Center Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada FDA Resources |