Polish conference decries proposed Tobacco Products Directive revisions

Prohibitive cigarette and alcohol prices encourage the smuggling of these products, according to participants at a recent conference held at Warsaw on the illicit trade across the EU’s eastern border, according to a EurActiv Poland report.

The conference, organised by EurActiv Poland with the support of Philip Morris, examined the proposed European Commission’s revisions to the Tobacco Products Directive but also looked at the wider debate on the illicit trade.

The Commission has proposed, among other things, that larger health warnings be imposed on cigarette packs and the introduction of a ban on characterizing flavors, including menthol.

Industry representatives and others have balked at the draft rules.

And speaking at the conference, Tadeusz Zwiefka, a Polish MEP from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), said the updated directive should be carefully considered to avoid a further increase in smuggling.

“Instead of contributing to better health of Europeans, the possible rise in smuggling or production of illegal cigarettes from tobacco of unknown origin means that they will be more harmful to health,” he told the participants at the conference.