October 2, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 5, 1424

BRUSSELS, Oct 1: The European Union halted the branding of cigarettes as “light” or “mild” on Wednesday but smokers and tobacco firms shrugged off the latest step in the EU’s campaign against smoking.

Cigarettes may no longer be produced under popular brand names such as Altria’s Marlboro Lights and Japan Tobacco’s Mild Seven, which the EU says mislead consumers about the dangers of smoking.

Stark health warnings such as “Smoking Kills” must now cover at least 30 percent of the front of each packet and 40 percent of the back, and an even greater area where messages are printed in more than one national language.

However, smokers will not see an immediate change. Tobacco firms have been phasing in new products over recent months, and retailers can still sell old stocks which breach the new rules.

“There aren’t going to be any mass burnings of cigarette packets,” said Thorsten Muench, the spokesman for EU Health Commissioner David Byrne.—Reuters