Tobacco Companies Challenge Efforts in US, Australia

15 November 2011

Cigarette packs with graphic health pictures on a table at a pub in Sydney, Australia, in July

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Tobacco companies are fighting efforts in the United States and Australia to make their products less

appealing

.

In Washington, a federal judge last week blocked the Food and Drug Administration from requiring new

warning labels

on cigarette packs. Judge Richard Leon ruled in a case brought by five tobacco companies.

The judge

temporarily

stopped a new federal rule to require large new warnings starting next September. These include

color images

such as a dead body or diseased lungs.

Simple text warnings now appear.

Congress called for color images showing the dangers of smoking, similar to what Canada does. But the tobacco companies say the new requirements approved in June

violate

their free speech rights

guaranteed

by the Constitution.

Judge Leon said the FDA could not require the new labels before a

lawsuit

against the government is decided. Some experts say the process could take years. The judge said he believes the cigarette makers are highly likely to win their case.

He says the images are designed to appeal to emotion, rejecting government arguments that they are purely