Brussels, 19/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - After years of preparation, the European Commission this Wednesday 19 December presented its proposed directive on tobacco products. The text, keenly awaited by the public health organisations, will not be much to the taste of the tobacco industry, although it leaves a certain amount of flexibility in terms of additives and packaging. Commissioner Tonio Borg, who was very pleased to be able to present the text six weeks before the anticipated deadline, said that this was an ambitious and well-balanced proposal which will eventually lead to a reduction in the number of smokers and therefore of disease related to the consumption of tobacco in the European Union. “Consumers must not be cheated: tobacco products should look and taste like tobacco products and this proposal ensures that attractive packaging and flavourings are not used as a marketing strategy”, Borg said.
Tobacco is still a major health problem: 700,000 people die every year in the European Union of a disease linked to its consumption. This reality is a burden on the health care systems, with €25 billion spent every year on treating sick smokers. The current directive on tobacco products, which dates from 2001, is no longer effective. Major advances have been made in the meantime on the triple level of science, market and international standards. Scientific progress has made it possible to detect with greater precision the harmfulness of additives in tobacco products and for its part, the industry has responded by developing new, more attractive products. Additionally, the European Union and the member states ratified the WHO framework anti-smoking convention in 2005. The member states followed a variety of regulatory procedures to do this, leading to disparities in their national provisions on the production, presentation and sales of tobacco products. All of these factors have rendered various provisions of the directive null and void.
The Commission wants to tackle the problem at its root, by freeing young people from the grasp of the tobacco industry, which is increasingly developing flavoured products. Seventy per cent of smokers started smoking before the age of 18 and 17% were even younger. In its revision, the Commission therefore worked on the basis of the following concept: tobacco must taste like tobacco rather than a vanilla or chocolate confectionery product. This will put an end to certain flavours which encourage the youngest people to start smoking. Additionally, smokers must consume their cigarettes in full awareness of the facts, due to warnings and dissuasive images. Here are the main provisions laid down in the proposal:
Labelling and packaging: all packets of cigarettes and rolling tobacco must bear a combined warning (text plus image) on health covering 75% of the surface area of the package (front and back). Advertising elements are forbidden. The current indications on tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide, which are felt to be misleading, have been replaced with a printed message on the packet sleeve indicating that tobacco smoke contains more than 70 carcinogenic substances. The member states remain free to adopt neutral packaging in duly justified cases.
Ingredients: an electronic model for the declaration of ingredients and emissions will be set in place. It is proposed to ban cigarettes, rolling tobacco and smokeless tobacco containing characterising flavours and products with an increased level of toxicity and risk of addiction.
Smokeless tobacco: the ban on all smokeless tobacco products (“snus”) is kept in place, with the exception of Sweden, which will continue to benefit from a derogation. All smokeless tobacco products must bear health warnings on the main surfaces of their packaging; products containing characterising flavours are banned from sale. A prior notice obligation has been brought in for new kinds of tobacco products.
Extension of the scope of the directive: products containing nicotine (such as electronic cigarettes) with a nicotine content below a certain level may be sold, as long as they include health warnings. Above this threshold, these products are subject to the same authorisation regime as medicines, as are nicotine substitutes. Packets of plant-based cigarettes must bear health warnings.
Cross-border distance selling: a notification regime for online retailers and a control mechanism have been set in place to guarantee that tobacco products are not sold to minors.
Illegal trade: an identification and monitoring system and security provisions (such as holograms) are planned, in order to ensure that only products which comply with the directive are available for sale on the EU market.
The proposal is now in the hands of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. It is likely to be adopted in 2014 with entry into force from 2015 or 2016. (IL/transl.fl)