Committees line up against menthol ban

The European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture (AGRI) has rejected the European Commission’s proposals to ban menthol and slim cigarettes in the EU as part of a revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) put forward at the end of last year, according to a Europolitics story.

In a non-binding opinion adopted with 36 votes in favour, four against and two abstentions, MEPs argued that the new TPD rules should not lead to the decline of the tobacco growing sector in the EU because there was no direct link between tobacco cultivation and the number of smokers.

AGRI’s opinion will now be submitted to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the lead committee on the TPD, which will vote on the draft report on July 10.

Meanwhile, Europolitics reported too that the committees on Legal Affairs (JURI) and on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) had also rejected the Commission’s proposals to ban the use of menthol and slim cigarettes.

In addition, the JURI committee spoke in favour of prolonging the phase-in period for the entry into force of the new directive, and the ITRE spoke against introducing plain packaging – proposed by the Commission as an optional provision.

And, according to a Bulgarian News Agency story, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee is also opposing the ban on the production and sale of menthol and slim cigarettes.

Parliament’s plenary session is scheduled to vote on the TPD revisions during the first half of September.