All tobacco products selling in Turkey will bear warning labels next year
In the middle of the summer Turkey approved a statewide ban on smoking in all indoor public areas, becoming only the seventh nation across European region to adopt such measure.
The ban was massively criticized by local business owners and simple smokers, and even resulted in one victim, when a manager of a coffee house in the west of the country was shot dead after asking one of the customers to put out his cigarette.
Nevertheless, Turkish government decided to strengthen its regulatory role for local tobacco industry. The cigarette-makers are obliged to place written and graphic warning labels on the packs of tobacco products from January 1, 2010.
According to Mahmoud Maloudi, head of the Tobacco & Alcohol Market Regulation Board, agency dealing tobacco and alcohol products, the Board is going to begin warning current smokers with pictures of deceased lungs and written statements and pictures starting Jan. 1, 2010 in place of current warnings that are not vivid enough. Mr. Maloudi said there would be 14 different warnings on various tobacco products shown in order to make smokers aware of potential severe health risks related to tobacco consumption.
In conformity with TAMRD, there are nearly 200 kinds of packages for tobacco products approved for sales in the past. All those packages are required to bear latest written and graphic warning labels.
Tobacco manufacturers will have enough time to modify the production to print new warnings and place them at their products with particular intervals. Tobacco products manufactured by Dec. 31, 2009 that written warnings only, will be allowed to be on the market until July, 1st, 2010.
The aggregate area of both types of warnings should be not less than 65 percent of the entire package, in conformity with the corresponding ordinance. The deadline for the switch to new warnings is Jan. 1, 2011, by that day each tobacco product selling in Turkey must bear new warnings.
Pictorial warnings on tobacco products is a well-known strategy already used by many countries throughout the world, among which are Brazil, Thailand, the United Kingdom, Romania, India, and Singapore. The USA is going to place similar warnings in the nearest future as well.
The European Union Committee on Public Health developed more than 40 pictures involving the effects of tobacco consumption to be placed on the packages of tobacco products. Turkish authorities have selected 14 pictures for the local products.
According to several surveys, visual warnings make 20 percent of current smokers want to quit or even get rid of the habit.
Turkey prohibited smoking in enclosed public spaces last year, but gave eating and drinking establishments a delay to get ready to the ban. The delay expired on July 19, 2009 and the statewide ban became valid. In conformity with the legislation, smoking is banned restaurants, tea and coffee houses, bars and all workplaces. Tobacco advertisements and promotions also were prohibited.
