EU VOTES TO BAN ALL TOBACCO ADVERTISING

All tobacco advertising, whether on television, radio, billboards or in
print, is to be banned in Europe, after the European Parliament voted
yesterday by 314 to 211 to defeat a crucial blocking amendment on the
legality of the ban.

The vote followed a last-ditch attempt by the tobacco industry and its
allies to send the bill back into the arbitration procedures of national
governments.

The trade associations of European publishers and advertisers threatened
legal action against the ban, calling it a threat to freedom of expression
and their industries.

The ban will be enforced in stages from 2001. National parliaments will have
two years to enact the appropriate legislation. The final stage will end the
sponsorship of international sporting events and teams in October 2006.

The move had the enthusiastic backing of the European Commission, whose
social affairs commissioner, Padraig Flynn, promised to tackle the hypocrisy
of the EU subsidising tobacco farmers. Opponents of the ban claim the EU
spends twice as much subsidising tobacco as the manufacturers do to
advertise it.

* The former Norwegian prime minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, became the
first woman to head the World Health rganisation yesterday and called for a
global campaign against tobacco advertising. The 59-year-old doctor accused
cigarette companies of targeting children in the Third World to make up for
shrinking markets in the West.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"