Last updated: July 20, 2022
Action Required for Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship Not Banned
Disclosure to the government by the tobacco industry of information on advertising, promotion and sponsorship activities and expenditures
The law requires manufacturers and importers of tobacco products to submit to the appointed person annual reports of their expenditures for permitted advertisements in the previous year. The requirement also applies to the holder of a franchise in a trademark and to the holder of permission to use the trademark who make an advertisement for the trademark. Each report must break down expenditures into categories according to the types of permitted advertisements in Arts. 3(B)(1) and (2). The law also requires the Minister of Health to publish specified information from the reports online.
The law aligns with FCTC Art. 13 and the FCTC Art. 13 guidelines in that it requires disclosure to the government on advertising, promotion and sponsorship activities and expenditures.
Health warning messages required on permitted forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
The law requires a health warning on several permitted forms of tobacco advertising and promotion. Under Art. 4, all advertisements that qualify as “permitted signs” must display a warning in Hebrew stating “Cigarettes cause disease and premature death.” The warning must be legible from a reasonable distance.
Under Art. 7, the law requires a health warning on permitted tobacco advertisements under Art. 3(B)(1) (newspaper advertisements) and Art. 3(B)(2) (signs permitted at certain points of sale). The warning must be displayed in a prominent position, be at least 30% of the area of the advertisement, and be in the same language as the advertisement. The content of the warning varies according to whether the product advertised is a smoking product, and electronic cigarette, or a tobacco product other than a smoking product.
To align with FCTC Art. 13 and the FCTC Art. 13 Guidelines, the warning requirement should clearly apply to all permitted forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship not banned or not yet banned and to those very limited commercial communications, recommendations, or actions that might continue after a comprehensive ban. Further, FCTC Art. 13 Guidelines para. 40 provides that Parties should consider requiring that health warning messages be given at least equal prominence to the advertising, promotion or sponsorship.
Disclosed information readily available to the public
The law requires the Minister of Health to publish on the Ministry of Health website information from the reports detailing advertising, promotion and sponsorship expenditures the previous year. Information to be published includes the total expenditure per manufacturer and importer, as well as the expenditures for each category of permitted advertisements for which annual reporting is required (Arts. 3(B)(1) and (2)).
The law aligns with FCTC Art. 13 and the FCTC Art. 13 Guidelines with respect to making available to the public the information on advertising, promotion and sponsorship expenditures reported by tobacco manufacturers and importers.
