EU Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Tonio Borg yesterday launched a proposal revising the tobacco directive to tighten the rules on the multi-million euro industry and encourage smokers to quit.
The long-awaited directive also retains the controversial ban on the smokeless tobacco, known as snus, which was behind the forced resignation of John Dalli from the European Commission.
Mr Dalli stepped down in October following an investigation by Olaf, the EU’s anti fraud office, which found “unambiguous circumstantial evidence” that he was aware his former canvasser Silvio Zammit was asking for €60 million in exchange for lifting the snus ban.
Addressing a press conference in Brussels yesterday, an upbeat Mr Borg gave details of the proposal.
“We have delivered” were his first words, reminding journalists that he had promised to launch the directive by the end of January 2013.
Mr Borg, an ex-smoker himself, said the proposal should be in place by the end of the tenure of the current commission, whose mandate ends in 2014. It now needs to be approved by the European Parliament and member states.
“We have big health problems with tobacco and our ambition is to make tobacco products and smoking less attractive and thus discourage tobacco initiation among young people,” he said.
The proposal tackles a number of issues related to cigarettes, other tobacco products and novel technologies such as the e-cigarette.
Its main thrusts are a complete ban on flavouring of tobacco products and a mandatory use of large, pictorial health warnings.
It also regulates cross-border sales of tobacco products and imposes technical features to combat illicit trade.
Even though the Dalli affair had dominated the news in Brussels for days in October when the story broke, the issue was not raised once by journalists during the hour-long press conference yesterday.
Main tobacco directive proposals:
Labelling and packaging: All cigarettes and roll-your-own packages must contain a combined picture and text health warning covering 75 per cent of the front and the back of the package and must carry no promotional elements. Member states remain free to introduce plain packaging in duly justified cases.
Ingredients: An electronic reporting format for ingredients and emissions will be introduced. The proposal foresees a prohibition for cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco that have characterising flavours and a prohibition of products with increased toxicity and addictiveness.
Smokeless tobacco: The ban on oral tobacco products (snus) is maintained, except for Sweden, which has an exemption. All smokeless tobacco products must carry health warnings on the main surfaces of the package and products with characterising flavours cannot be sold.
Extension of the scope of the directive: Nicotine-containing products (such as electronic cigarettes) below a certain nicotine threshold are allowed on the market but must feature health warnings. Above this threshold such products are only allowed if authorised as medicinal products, such as nicotine replacement therapies. Herbal cigarettes will have to carry health warnings.
Cross-border distance sales: A notification for internet retailers and an age verification mechanism are foreseen to ensure that tobacco products are not sold to children and adolescents.