Bulgaria aligning with Tobacco Products Directive

Bulgaria’s Cabinet has finalized amendments to the country’s tobacco legislation that will see the imposition of graphic health warnings on tobacco packs and a ban on ‘characterizing’ flavors in tobacco products, according to a story in the Sofia Globe.

The amendments are aimed at transposing the provisions of the EU’s latest Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into Bulgarian law before the deadline of May 2016.

The amendments will go into full effect in May 2017.

Tobacco products’ packaging in Bulgaria currently carries text warnings.

At 35 percent, Bulgaria’s tobacco consumption incidence is second only to that of Greece (38 per cent) within the EU, where the average incidence is 26 percent, according to a Eurobarometer survey published by the European Commission in May.