NOVEMBER 2, 2005

Tobacco and the governments of Europe

The World Health Organization is going public to try to make sure that the European Union ban on tobacco advertising is not being flouted. The WHO says that eight member countries have yet to confirm to the European Commission that they are enforcing the measures, including Germany and Spain which are continuing to allow companies to advertise in print, radio and the Internet, despite the fact that three months have now passed since the law was supposed to come into effect.

The WHO's anti-tobacco treaty is continuing to pick up more and more ratifications with the latest country to confirm its adherence to the treaty being Belgium.