Packaging & Labeling Legislation: Essential Elements
International Legal Consortium (ILC)
Packaging and Labeling Measures
Presentation Outline
1. Pack and product as promotional tools 2. Effective health warnings and messages 3. Misleading packaging, labeling, and product 4. Constituents and emissions information 5. Australia’s plain packaging measure
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Point of View: The Industry
The Tobacco Industry:
• The pack is the least expensive form of advertising.
• It is the manufacturers’ last chance at a customer.
• Pack design is the single biggest factor at point of sale.
– “Our final communication vehicle with our smokers is the pack itself. In the absence of any other marketing messages, our packaging … is the sole communicator of our brand essence. Put another way: When you don’t have anything else, our packaging is our marketing.”
» Philip Morris Executive
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Point of View: Public Health
Public Health Advocates: • A pack-a-day smoker
sees warnings at least 7300 times per year.
• Package presents an educational opportunity.
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Anatomy of a Cigarette Package
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Innovative Packaging
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Tear tape boasts: “The World’s First Side-Opening
Pack”
Packs with unconventional openings, shapes; use of tear tape
Glow in the dark
Additional interior surfaces that can be used for promotion (“X-Pack”)
Special Edition Packs
Collectable packs telling a story (France)
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2008 Beijing
Olympics (China)
“This” teamed up with a men’s
fashion magazine for this limited edition – 1,650
packs available for only three weeks
(South Korea)
Targeting
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Named after Che Guevara, major figure in the Cuban
Revolution
Each stick has an image of Che’s face
printed on it
Camel Rock – “rebel attitude”
Anatomy of a Cigarette Package
“All aspects of the pack, including the pack outer, cellophane, tear tape and inner cards, maximise the ways in which the pack itself can be used to communicate with consumers”
- Internal Industry Document1
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Article 11 is about more than just health warnings
Packaging and Labeling Measures
Presentation Outline
1. Pack and product as promotional tools 2. Effective health warnings and messages 3. Misleading packaging, labeling, and product 4. Constituents and emissions information 5. Australia’s plain packaging measure
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Effective Health Warnings
• Large
• Clear
• Visible
• Legible
(Thai examples)
To be effective, warning labels must be:
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Features of Health Warnings
1. Placement/Location 2. Size 3. Composition/Content 4. Rotation 5. Color 6. Language
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(1) Placement/Location
DESCRIPTION
• On principal display areas (PDAs) (front and back—the largest panels of the package).
• Best location: On the upper portion parallel to the top edge of each PDA.
• Concealing or obscuring the warning is prohibited. • Not permanently interrupted by
normal opening. • Not obscured by tax stamps or
other required markings.
IMPACT
• If the message is in a prominent location, it is more likely to be noticed.
(Singapore examples) 17
(2) Size Contrast: Small vs. Medium vs. Large
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Pakistan (40%) Thailand (55%) Uruguay (80%)
(2) Size
DESCRIPTION
• 50% or more, but no less than 30% of the principal display areas
• Does not include borders
IMPACT
• Large messages more likely to be noticed
• Label effectiveness increases with size
• Large labels provoke emotional responses and increase quit motivation
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(2) Size
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Countries with the Largest Graphic Health Warnings
Thailand 85%
Australia 82.5%
Sri Lanka 80%
Uruguay 80%
Brunei Darussalam 75%
Canada 75%
Nepal 75%
Jamaica 75%
(3) Composition/Content
DESCRIPTION
• Text • Full color pictures • Warnings should address
smoked and smokeless tobacco products
IMPACT
• Pictures draw attention and are likely to be remembered
• Pictures are important in regions with low-literacy
• Textual messages highlight harmful effects of tobacco and provide public health information
Smoke contains benzene, nitrosamines,
formaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide.
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Over 70 countries or jurisdictions have
passed laws requiring graphic health warnings becoming the
international norm
(3) Composition/Content
21. France 22. Georgia 23. Guernsey 24. Honduras 25. Hong Kong (S.A.R., China) 26. Hungary 27. Iceland 28. India 29. Indonesia 30. Iran 31. Ireland 32. Jamaica 33. Jersey 34. Jordan 35. Kazakhstan 36. Kosovo 37. Kuwait 38. Latvia 39. Liechtenstein
59. Saudi Arabia 60. Seychelles 61. Singapore 62. Spain 63. Sri Lanka 64. Suriname 65. Switzerland 66. Taiwan, China 67. Thailand 68. Turkey
1. Argentina 2. Australia 3. Bahrain 4. Belgium 5. Bolivia 6. Brazil 7. Brunei 8. Burkina Faso 9. Canada 10. Cayman Islands 11. Chile 12. Colombia 13. Congo 14. Costa Rica 15. Denmark 16. Djibouti 17. Ecuador 18. Egypt 19. El Salvador 20. Fiji
40. Macau (S.A.R., China)
41. Madagascar 42. Malaysia 43. Malta 44. Mauritius 45. Mexico 46. Mongolia 47. Nepal 48. New Zealand 49. Niger 50. Norway 51. Oman 52. Pakistan 53. Panama 54. Peru 55. Philippines 56. Qatar 57. Romania 58. Russia
69. Ukraine 70. United Arab
Emirates 71. United Kingdom 72. United States 73. Uruguay 74. Venezuela 75. Viet Nam 76. Yemen 24
(4) Rotation
DESCRIPTION
• Multiple health warnings and messages – appear at the same time and – are changed periodically –
every 12-36 months.
IMPACT
• Provides more information
• Prevents overexposure
• Accounts for different reactions to messages
• Prevents the tobacco industry from choosing the least effective warning for a market share
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Example of a Rotation Schedule • Two sets of warnings – A and B • Each set contains 8 warnings • Each set appears for one year, including a four-month transition
period Set(s)
2014
January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 A
May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 A
September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 A and B
2015
January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 B
May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 B
September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 B and A 27
(5) Color
DESCRIPTION
• Full color printing for pictures
• Text color contrasts with background color
IMPACT
• Maximizes visibility and comprehension
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Need photo of English warning on Chinese cigarettes
(6) Language
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(6) Language
DESCRIPTION
• Label should be in the country’s principal language(s).
IMPACT
• Using all principal languages ensures a broader reach.
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New Zealand – warnings in English and Maori
Belgium – warnings in Dutch, French, and German
Brunei – Malay on front, English on back
Features To Align with FCTC Art. 11
and its Guidelines
1. Placement/location • Principal display areas (plural) – typically front
and back
2. Size • 50% or more, but no less than 30% of principal
display areas
3. Composition/content • Text and pictures
4. Rotation • Multiple messages at any given time • Sets should rotate every 12-36 months
5. Color • Full color pictures • Contrast between text and background color
6. Language • Principal language(s)
Features of Health Warnings
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Spot the Loophole #1
“The text and pictures comprising the health warnings and messages shall occupy no less than 50% of the package, not counting the space taken up by any border surrounding the health warnings and messages.”
How could the industry technically comply with the law while minimizing the impact of health warnings?
(Hint: there are at least two loopholes)
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Spot the Loophole #1(a)
“The text and pictures comprising the health warnings and messages shall appear together and shall occupy no less than 50% of the package, not counting the space taken up by any border surrounding the health warnings and messages.”
How could the industry technically comply with the law while minimizing the impact of health warnings?
Text and picture components could be separated – text on front, picture on back
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Spot the Loophole #1(b)
“The text and pictures comprising the health warnings and messages shall appear together and shall occupy no less than 50% of each principal display area of the package, not counting the space taken up by any border surrounding the health warnings and messages.”
How could the industry technically comply with the law while minimizing the impact of health warnings?
Entire warning could be placed on 100% of the back, covering an average of 50% of the pack
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“Article 6: All tobacco packages fabricated in or imported to Mexico must show the new health warnings within 9 months from the date on which the Secretariat publishes the health warning designs in the Official Gazette of the Federation.”
Spot the Loophole #2: Issue of the Supply Deadline
How could the industry technically comply with the law while minimizing the impact of health warnings?
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“Article 6: All tobacco packages fabricated in, imported to, or sold in Mexico must show the new health warnings within 9 months from the date on which the Secretariat publishes the health warning designs in the Official Gazette of the Federation.”
Spot the Loophole #2: Issue of the Supply Deadline
Because the law addresses only fabricating and importing products (and not sale), the industry could produce/import as many packs as possible before the 9-month deadline, and continue to sell packs that meet the old requirements after the deadline
The law must establish the supply deadline – the date after which non-compliant products cannot be sold
Packaging and Labeling Measures
Presentation Outline
1. Pack and product as promotional tools 2. Effective health warnings and messages 3. Misleading packaging, labeling, and product 4. Constituents and emissions information 5. Australia’s plain packaging measure
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Problem: Tar & Nicotine Yields:
• They are measured by machines that purport to emulate human smoking
• No relation to the amount of tar and nicotine actually delivered to smokers.
42 FTC/ISO testing method
Tobacco manufacturers have designed their products to: 1.) intentionally cheat the smoking machine tests; and 2.) deliver a precise amount of nicotine to maximize addiction.
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The role of additives in the “low tar”/ “light” deception
• Ammonia technology - “free nicotine”
• Smoothers and flavorants – also control nicotine absorption
• Other flavorants - flavor compensation in “low
tar” products (also are attractive to youth)
• Cocoa - expands airways - higher nicotine and
tar intake
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Summary: “Low Tar” Fraud
• Testing machines do not mimic
how real people smoke • Tobacco industry designs
cigarettes to cheat the smoking machines
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“All work in this area should be directed towards providing consumer reassurance about cigarettes and the smoking habit.”
“This can be provided in different ways, e.g., by claimed low deliveries, by the perception
of low deliveries and by the perception of ‘mildness.’”
Marketing the fraud
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Target Markets for Deception
Internal BAT document, circa 1997
Global sales increased from 423 billion cigarettes in 1998 to nearly 756 billion in 20084
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“In effect, the Marlboro 85 smokers in this study did not achieve any reduction in the smoke intake by smoking a cigarette (Marlboro Lights) normally considered lower in delivery.”
“Those who smoke low tar and nicotine cigarettes generally do so because they believe such cigarettes are ‘better for you.’”
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Using packaging and labeling to perpetuate the fraud
Misleading descriptors/terms 53
Misleading colours
1 4 6 Misleading colours and numbers
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Misleading pack shape/size
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Spelling out the change to
consumers
Soon your Derby is going to change the name of its versions King Size, Suave (Mild) and Lights.
Now besides the different yields, the traditional colours are going to mark the difference among them:
Red for those that prefer a more intense taste
Blue for those who want mildness Silver light taste, the lighter of the family
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• Deceives consumers
– Believe tar numbers reflect actual exposure6
• Encourages consumption – Believe “low tar” cigarettes are less harmful7
• Discourages/delays quitting
– “Low tar” brand smokers much less likely to quit. 8
• Deeper inhalation - more adenocarcenoma
Impact of the “low tar” fraud
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The “low tar”/“light” cigarette fraud
“Defendants falsely marketed and promoted low tar/light cigarettes as less harmful than full flavor cigarettes in order to keep people smoking and sustain corporate revenues” (emphasiss added)1
Hon. Gladys Kessler, US District Court Judge
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FCTC Requirements
• Prohibit packaging and labeling that promotes a tobacco product by any means that are false, misleading, deceptive or likely to create an erroneous impression about its characteristics, health effects, hazards or emissions
• Including any term, descriptor, trademark, figurative or any other sign that directly or indirectly creates the false impression that a particular tobacco product is less harmful
(FCTC Art. 11.1(a)) • Emissions yield numbers should not be allowed
because they are misleading (Art. 11 Guidelines) 63
Uruguay’s Measures
• Single brand presentation requirement
• 80% graphic health warnings
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FCTC requirements for constituents and emissions
• Package must contain information
on relevant constituents and emissions (FCTC Art. 11.2)
• Information should be descriptive only (Guidelines, paras 32-35)
• Emission yields/figures should be prohibited because they are misleading (Guidelines, paras 32-35)
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Descriptive versus quantitative information
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Packaging and Labeling Measures
Presentation Outline
1. Pack and product as promotional tools 2. Effective health warnings and messages 3. Misleading packaging, labeling, and product 4. Constituents and emissions information 5. Australia’s plain packaging measure
68
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