Brussels, 27/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - This 27 July, the Directorate General for Health and Consumers published the results of a public consultation on the forthcoming revision of the directive on tobacco products. The consultation, which began on 24 September and was concluded on 17 December 2010, gathered 85,000 responses, an unprecedented level, according to the Commission. “The results of this wide public debate will help shape our work on tackling tobacco-related harm and, crucially, prevent young people from taking up smoking”, said John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumers.
The number one cause of preventable disease in the European Union, smoking is the presumed cause of more than 650,000 deaths in the member states each year. Internationally, smoking kills nearly six million people each year, according to the figures of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which may rise to eight million by 2030 if nations do not take steps. The need for action at European level is therefore quite clear. The current directive on tobacco products dates from 2001 and since then, the tobacco situation has moved on. In particular, the EU and 26 of its member states have signed the WHO framework convention on tackling smoking. The public consultation asked respondents for their opinions on several possible scenarios to fight smoking, such as compulsory pictorial warnings (or images) on tobacco product packaging, neutral or generic packaging, regulating harmful or addictive substances in the products, restricting or banning the sales of tobacco products over the internet and from vending machines. The contributions varied enormously. As regards the pictorial warnings, those in favour believe that these will counteract the advertising effect of the packaging, and those against feel that they will have little influence on the decision to start smoking. Supporters of rules on ingredients argue that restricting the use of additives in a similar way to sweet, fruity and floral tastes may dissuade young people from taking up smoking. Others are not convinced that these rules will put young people off and may be discriminatory towards certain varieties and brands of tobacco. The results of the consultation will be taken on board in the impact assessment underway, which is looking at the economic, social and health repercussions and the viability of the various strategic options. The conclusions of this analysis will be presented along with a legislative proposal expected for next year. (I.L./transl.fl)