Revised TPD the most lobbied EU dossier

The tobacco industry deployed ‘massive’ third party lobbying to subvert revisions to the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), according to a BMJ piece citing research published online by Tobacco Control (TC).

TC was said to have found also that regulatory reforms seemed to have made it easier for corporate interests to influence public health legislation.

The 2014 TPD, which becomes national law next year, is a revised version of the 2001 directive. It provides for an increase in the size of graphic health warnings, a ban on certain flavourings, restrictions on the size and shape of cigarette packs, and regulation of e-cigarettes.

‘But it is weaker than the original proposals,’ said the BMJ.

‘The process for revision also took over five years, and was beset by controversy, amid claims of tobacco industry interference and the forced resignation of the Health Commissioner John Dalli.

‘The Directive has been described as “the most lobbied dossier in the history of EU institutions”.’

The BMJ piece is at: http://www.bmj.com/company/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/toba-lobb.pdf

The TC study is at: http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/early/2015/02/06/tobaccocontrol-2014-051919.full.