MEPs oppose anti-smuggling deal

In a resolution agreed yesterday, members of the European Parliament have urged the European Commission not to renew its agreement with Philip Morris International on combatting tobacco-products smuggling and counterfeiting within the EU, according to a story by Julie Levy-Abegnoli for The Parliament Magazine.

In place since 2004, the deal is due to expire in July.

Officially, the European Parliament does not have a say on whether or not the deal should be renewed. However, the European health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis has said that he also is against maintaining the partnership.

MEPs have called upon the Commission to implement the 2014 EU tobacco directive, which includes a proposal for a tracking and tracing system for cigarettes at EU level.

Greens/EFA group MEP Bart Staes apparently called on the Brussels executive to, “stop kowtowing to the industry and abandon its poacher-turned-gamekeeper approach to regulating the sector”.