EU to invoke illegal-trade plan B
The European Commission has said that it will focus on provisions of its new Tobacco Products Directive and World Health Organization protocols to continue the battle against the illegal tobacco trade, according to a story by Sarantis Michalopoulos for EurActiv.com.
This follows a Commission decision last week not to extend a 12-year, anti-smuggling agreement with Philip Morris International.
On July 9, 2004, the Commission concluded an anti-contraband and anti-counterfeit agreement with PMI in an effort to reduce the prevalence of illicit PMI products on the EU tobacco market. The EU has a similar agreement with Japan Tobacco International, which expires in 2022, and similar agreements with British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands, both of which are due to end in 2030.
Last week, Budget Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva sent a letter to member states claiming that there was no need to extend the PMI agreement because the EU now had the means and the tools to tackle the illegal tobacco trade.
‘To continue the effort to fight against illegal tobacco trade, it is, therefore, my intention to concentrate on cheap whites, strict law enforcement and strengthened international co-operation and implementation of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,’ Georgieva wrote.
A technical assessment published on February 24 found that the PMI agreement had effectively met its objective of reducing the prevalence of PMI contraband on the EU tobacco market and would by its expiry date have provided financial benefits of about $1 billion to member states and, to a lesser extent, the EU.
Meanwhile, the Motley Fool said in a report relayed by the TMA that the Commission’s decision not to renew the agreement between the EU and PMI could increase PMI’s litigation risk, given that the agreement had provided a ‘cloak of legal protection’ for the company.
The EurActiv story is at: http://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/commission-vows-to-tackle-illicit-tobacco-trade-by-its-own-means/