EHJ May 2005, pages 34-35

Tina Garrity reports on the EU's latest campaign to target to young smokers, an update on tackling Sudan 1 and public consultation on the sustainable use of pesticides

EU launches new anti-smoking campaign to help smokers kick the habit

Young people, non-smokers and those wanting to quit smoking will now be able to get support from the EU thanks to a major new anti-smoking campaign. Devised by a consortium of health experts and PR professionals, the campaign, called "HELP: for a life without tobacco", kicked off in March with a road show, which is set to tour all 25 EU capitals. Over the summer, the consortium will follow this up with a HELP TV and cinema advertising campaign.

The campaign also includes a website with help on how to quit and support for a European Tobacco Media Observatory which will systematically collect and analyse European anti-tobacco communications in the media. The campaign runs to 2008 and will mainly target adolescents and young adults.

HELP is the second major EU-wide anti-smoking campaign run by the commission. It builds on the experience of the first such campaign, "Feel free to say no", which ran between 2002 and 2004 and which, according to the commission, achieved over a billion contacts with young people throughout the EU.

The media companies behind the current campaign will be working in partnership with various NGOs and public health bodies brought together by the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP). An expert advisory board chaired by Professor Gerard Hastings of the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at Stirling University has provided the input for the strategy.

In launching the campaign, public health commissioner Markos Kyprianou said he wanted to see a major shift in society to the point where being smoke-free becomes the norm and the smoke-addicted are a dwindling minority. If all EU countries followed the lead of Ireland, Italy and Malta and banned smoking in public places, he said, it would go a long way to achieving this.

EU action on tobacco consumption has always been something of a contradiction. On the one hand, the EU seeks via legislation to control tobacco sales and advertising in a bid to cut consumption but on the other it provides subsidies to EU tobacco producers to continue growing it. The European Public Health Alliance, in welcoming the new campaign, has said that it is a curious paradox that EU campaigns against smoking are financed from a budget line, which is dedicated to supporting farmers in Europe to grow tobacco. "Many NGOs have consistently called for an end to using taxpayers money to finance the production of tobacco. Running an anti-smoking campaign while actively growing tobacco is one of the most striking examples of EU's policy incoherence," it says. Aware that this is an inevitable criticism that will be raised, the commission, in an accompanying question and answer sheet on EU tobacco policies, says:

"The European Commission's strategy for sustainable development foresees the phasing out of subsidies for tobacco production. However, there are several hundred thousand tobacco farmers and their families who currently depend on these subsidies. Both the European parliament and the EU member states where these farmers live have indicated to the commission that a rapid end to EU support would be unacceptable. Nonetheless, the commission's most recent reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy include a "decoupling" between production and subsidies for tobacco growers."

In other words, subsidies should be phased out eventually but it will take a long time. In the meantime, public health professionals will have to rely on the ingenuity of the PR people behind the latest campaign to help them in their quest to persuade people to kick the habit

Further information on the new campaign can be found on the HELP website at http://www.help-eu.com/

The Q&A sheet on EU tobacco control policies can be found at http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/05/69&
format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Sudan 1 problem prompts further EU action

Following the UK's notification of a major Sudan 1 problem in February this year, the commission has been looking at what it can do to tighten up import controls and persuade relevant sections of the food industry to take their consumer safety responsibilities more seriously. On the legislative front, it has extended controls for Sudan dyes to include imports of curcuma (the source plant for turmeric) and virgin palm oil as well as chilli and chilli products.

These food products must now be certified as free of Sudan dyes (Sudan I, II, III and Scarlet Red/Sudan IV), in order to be imported into the EU.

On the persuasive front, it has published a new one-page leaflet entitled Key obligations of food and feed business operators. The leaflet is short and to the point.

In a series of blunt sentences it reminds industry of the key principles of EU food law:

• safety: operators shall not place on the market unsafe food or feed
• responsibility: operators are responsible for the safety of the food and feed, which they produce, transport, store or sell
• traceability: operators shall be able to rapidly identify any supplier or consignee
• transparency: operators shall immediately inform the competent authorities if they have a reason to believe that their food or feed is not safe
• emergency: operators shall immediately withdraw food or feed from the market if they have a reason to believe that it is not safe
• prevention: operators shall identify and regularly review the critical points in their processes and ensure that controls are applied at these points
• co-operation: operators shall co-operate with the competent authorities in actions taken to reduce risks.

In launching the leaflet, commissioner Markos Kyprianou said: "food and feed operators cannot ignore their responsibilities to guarantee safe food for all EU citizens. That is why the commission is reminding them again of their obligations, and member states must use all necessary measures to ensure that they comply."

According to the commission, controls carried out by member states have revealed that numerous consignments of curcuma and virgin palm oil have been found to contain Sudan dyes. However, an FSA press release issued to publicise the EU action in early April, stated that contamination of turmeric had only been found in two samples imported into Cyprus and Spain

Copies of the leaflet can be downloaded from the commission's website at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/food/foodlaw/responsibilities/obligations_en.pdf

Public consults on sustainable use of pesticides

As part of the development work on its thematic strategy on pesticides, now due for publication in September 2005, the commission has posted a series of questions on its website, designed to elicit from interested parties views on key elements of the proposed strategy. One of the areas where it would like opinions is the content of national action plans, which will form part of the strategy, eg, should they include technical checks on sprayers, restrictions in public areas, special requirements for aerial spraying and so on.

The questionnaire also covers issues such as pesticide evaluation and the substitution principle, the legal definition of integrated pest management, the elements to be covered under pesticide training schemes and the compliance and monitoring systems to be adopted under the new EU pesticides regime. Also under consideration is the best way to dispose of pesticides and their packaging.

The consultation document points out that consumption and use of pesticides in the EU is increasing and the percentage of food and feed, where unwanted residues of pesticides are exceeding maximum acceptable limits is not declining. In addition, pollution of the aquatic environment appears to be on the rise

The questionnaire can be found on the website of the Directorate-General for the Environment at: http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice/forms/dispatch?form=399