Spain said Tuesday it plans to force tobacco companies to put gruesome images on cigarette packets to warn smokers of the health risks, a measure already introduced in some other European countries.

The images will have “strong visual impact,” but it is not yet known what they exactly they will be or when the measure will come into force, Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez said on Spanish National Radio.

Tobacco companies are already obliged to put the message “Smoking Kills” in black and white on cigarette packets sold in Spain

The Spanish government already has an anti-smoking law, which came into force in January 2006, less restrictive that in other European countries, which bans smoking on public transport but not in bars and restaurants.

Romania last year became the second European country after Belgium to put grim images on cigarette packets.

In Britain, it will be obligatory from October, while France plans to introduce a similar measure by the end of 2009.

Brazil, Thailand and Canada also have similar laws.

Among the images used in Romania are photographs of two lungs, one healthy and the other affected by tobacco, or a mother with an empty pushchair with the warning “smoking harms fertility”. (Via Expatica)