The selection buttons on cigarette machines at supermarket checkouts must have warnings. At least when cigarette packs are depicted on the keys, the Federal Court of Justice decided.
Smokers’ legs, black lungs, cancerous tumors: shocking images like these must be printed on cigarette packs under EU law. In German supermarkets, smokers often buy their cigarettes from a machine in the checkout area. Do warnings and shock images also have to be visible on the buttons of these machines?
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided on this question today. The judges in Karlsruhe ruled: Yes, these warnings are necessary – namely when the keys themselves look like cigarette packs.
The Munich club had sued
The Pro Rauchfrei association had sued the operator of two supermarkets in Munich. There are machines for dispensing cigarettes at the cash registers. Cigarette packs of different brands are shown on the selection buttons. However, no warnings or shock images can be seen on the buttons themselves.
With its decision, the Federal Court of Justice implemented a ruling made by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in March. The question was under what circumstances warnings and shock images on cigarette packs must be visible to the outside world. Specifically: Are these inadmissibly covered up by the machine? That is not the case, as the EU judges in Luxembourg found. This means: The mere fact that the cigarette packs are in such machines does not constitute concealment that is not permitted under EU law.
Market operators have to redesign vending machines
According to the BGH ruling, something different applies if the buttons on the machine itself look like cigarette packs. According to the Karlsruhe judges, an image already exists in accordance with the relevant regulations if it is reminiscent of a cigarette pack. If this is the case, the machine’s buttons must also be provided with warnings and shock images.
For many supermarket owners, this means they will have to redesign their cigarette machines at the checkout.