End to agreements sought

A Croatian member of the EU Parliament has asked the Commission if it believes it is feasible to terminate by May agreements that it entered into with tobacco manufacturers and that were aimed at countering the illegal trade in tobacco products.
In a preamble to two questions, Biljana Borzan said that, in 2016, Parliament had called on the Commission not to renew such an agreement with Philip Morris International.
‘Last April, it expressed the conviction that the agreements with the other tobacco companies should also be terminated and called on the Commission to present the feasibility of doing so by the end of the year,’ she said.
‘The Tobacco Products Directive introduced a traceability system for tobacco products, which will be operational on 20 May 2019, following the recent approval of the secondary legislation.
‘In addition, the WHO [World Health Organization] Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which was ratified by the EU in 2016, entered into force last September.
‘As Parliament made clear in 2016 and 2017, these agreements are becoming irrelevant and send a damaging and counterproductive message to third countries that the EU is engaging in inappropriate dealings with the tobacco industry.’
Borzan asked:
‘Does the Commission believe that it is feasible for the agreements with the tobacco companies to be terminated by 20 May 2019, as Parliament requested in its report?
‘When does the Commission expect to have a response ready for Parliament?’
Borzan’s questions are due to answered in writing.