EU urged to go beyond TPD in fight against tobacco

An Irish member of the European Parliament has urged the EU to do more to fight the “scourge” of tobacco.

Writing in the Parliament Magazine, Brian Hayes said the passing of the EU Tobacco Products Directive did not mark the end of the scourge of tobacco use in Europe. More needed to be done.

And some member states were exceeding their obligations, he said. Ireland, despite strong objections from the tobacco industry, was the first member state to pass legislation to introduce standardized packaging, and now other countries, including the UK and France, were following suit.

Hayes said also that another strategy could involve increasing tobacco product prices. Studies had shown that high prices comprised a deterring factor for smokers. In Ireland, the largest single annual decline in smoking rates was nine percent between June 2009 and June 2010. The origins of this could be traced back to the preceding year’s budget in which €0.50 was added to the excise duty on a pack of cigarettes.

‘Arguments will be made that we are over-regulating the tobacco industry,’ Hayes wrote, ‘but if we sit back and do nothing the 700,000 Europeans that die in 2015 from smoking could be a significantly higher figure in 10 years’ time.’

Hayes’ piece is at: https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/opinion/more-must-be-done-stub-out-scourge-tobacco-use-europe