14 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 5, 1997 European Union bans tobacco advertising Longtime tobacco. supporter Bliley subpoenas papers Los Angeles Times PARIS - Health ministers from Western Europe, where smoking is blamed for more than half a million pre- mature deaths each year, overcame eight years of deadlock yesterday, agreeing to phase in a ban on tobacco advertising }end sponsorship of sports and cultural events by tobacco companies. An estimated 40 percent of the adults in the 15 European Union member nations are smokers and cigarettes retain a cachet and popularity on the Continent that they have largely lost in the United States. "It's gone on for far too long," fEuropean Union Health Commissioner Padraig Flynn of Ireland told reporters bfore yesterday's key meeting of the health ministers in Brussels, Belgium. Tobacco companies - stung by regu- lotions that could curb their maneuvering in what has been a hugely lucrative mar- ket and one with increasing importance as the U.S. anti-smoking mood grows - immediately denounced the ban. They termed it an assault on free speech and said it will not cut down on ,smoking. The Confederation of ,uropean Community Cigarette Manufacturers, which includes Philip -orris, R.J. Reynolds and British- American Tobacco, issued a statement vowing to "fight strenuously to protect fhe fundamental rights of its members to communicate directly with their adult consumers." After 12 hours of often tense and stressful negotiations in the Belgian capital, the ministers voted to eliminate all tobacco advertising in six years and all sponsorship of major arts and sports events, such as Formula One motor rac- ing and tennis tournaments, within eight years, and in any case no later than October 2006. Under the European ban, which goes much further than the U.S. ban on tobacco ads on television and radio in effect since the 1970s, most advertising - including outdoor billboards - must cease within three years. Ads in media printed in Europe, including newspapers and magazines, must end within four years. Indirect advertising, such as apparel bearing the name of cigarette brands, would have to end within six years. U.S. anti-smoking groups cheered the decision. "We're extremely happy ... (and) hopeful that it's going to make a difference ... in terms of European smoking rates," said William Novelli, president of the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C. Although more sweeping, the European ban is not nearly as immedi- ate as the advertising restrictions con- tained in the proposed U.S. tobacco deal announced last June 20. Under the sweeping agreement - negotiated among cigarette makers, state attorneys The Washington Post WASHINGTON - One of the tobacco industry's longtime supporters in Congress yesterday issued subpoe- nas to force balky cigarette makers to release a cache of sensitive internal company documents. "I'm going to make sure these docu- ments see the light of day," Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, R-Va., said in a state- ment. "Congress must have these docu- ments to do its job." He gave the indus- try until noon today to comply with the request for the documents. The confrontation between Bliley and the companies dramatically under- scores the rising tensions between the beleaguered industry and lawmakers, who will consider national tobacco leg- islation in the spring that could impose strong new regulations on the industry while protecting it against many law- suits. ' Bliley's seeming turnaround mysti- fies many observers on Capitol Hill and leaves others skeptical. Philip Morris is a potent force in Bliley's district, and the company's Richmond plant employs about 5,000 of his con- stituents. According to the campaign AP PHOTO British Public Health Minister Tessa Jowedl speaks with French Health Minister Bernard Koucher at the E.U. Health Council meeting yesterday in Paris. general and private anti-tobacco allowed, but would be restricted to lawyers - tobacco billboards and black-and-white in publications with sponsorship of sporting and cultural significant teen-age readership. events would be banned almost imme- Multibillion-dollar payments by tobac- diately, as would caps, shirts and other co companies also would fund stop- items carrying tobacco ogos. smoking programs and a huge anti- Print advertising wou1d still be smoking ad campaign. finance lobbying group Comm Cause, Bliley has received more tobac- co campaign contributions than any other Hlouse member - more than $133,000 since ]987. Yet relations between the powerful congressman and the industry have been increasingly tense. The chairman has expressed frustration that a tobacco settlement proposed last summer did not address the concerns of such grou as retailers, according to one Blip advisor, and he wanted to send a signal to the industry that it will face compro- mises ahead. Other sources say Bliley wants the documents released so that lawmakers won't be blindsided by tobacco revela- tions coming out after a bill passes. Lawsuits against the industry have alleged that the companies defrauded the public by lying about the heag effects of tobacco, addictiveness o nicotine and more. The subpoenas went out to the nation's four largest tobacco companies - Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard Inc. The companies have said the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege. Last month Bliley stunned observers by demanding that the industry turn over the trove of papers, which th Liggett Group Inc. said it would releaiW- after reaching its own settlement earlier this year. Those documents have become the subject of a pitched court battle in the lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota against the industry. Echoing his statement from last month, Bliley said yesterday that the "American people must know the facts. If the tobacco industry engaged in criminal or fraudulent activities, th Congress needs to know about the activities before we consider granting the industry unprecedented immunity from future lawsuits." Tobacco industry critics have long accused the companies of abusing the. legal doctrines designed to protect the' confidentiality of attorney work and communications between attorneys and their clients. s Mobil. Towing and Road Service 24 Hours 2025 W. 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