The city of Paris has turned six parks into non-smoking areas. This ban on smoking is supposed to last for a trial period of four months before a probable extension to all gardens and parks in the capital. So far, there has only been a smoking ban on 500 playgrounds, but this move is considered to be the next step in the city’s anti-smoking policy. Countries like Finland, Iceland, the UK and some US cities have implemented a similar ban. Read More
On 28 June, the conditions for the entry into force of the WHO’s Protocol on fighting illegal tobacco smuggling were met following ratification by a sufficient number of parties to the FCTC. As of May 2019, each tobacco pack will have at least five identification marks, placed in a variety of ways based on each country’s choice, such as tax stamps, barcodes, QR codes or holograms. The information within will be stored in a centralised database that governments can use to track the movement of tobacco. Read More
Roll your own tobacco products are being targeted in Spain following the release of statistics showing a growth in sales of fine-cut tobacco. Some activists are calling for an increase in taxes on fine-cut as a measure to reduce the smoking rate. Read More
The Court of Justice of the European Union issued an opinion yesterday on a case referred by a German court regarding the EU Tobacco Products Directive of 2014. ESTA member and family-owned company Planta Tabak sells, among other products, flavoured roll-your-own tobacco. Planta took a case to dispute provisions of the German law transposing the provision from the Directive restricting the sale of tobacco products that have a ‘characterising flavour’, arguing that the Directive violates the principle of proportionality, as there was no transitional period and therefore they were left with no time to comply with the new rules for labelling and packaging. Read More
Following a recent law change, cigarettes and snus in Norway will be required to have plain packaging, as of July 1st. In order to reduce smoking rates in the country and after a transitional phase, the Norwegian Government decided to enforce neutral packaging (no logo, symbol, picture or colour) for cigarette packs and boxes of snus. Read More
An obvious correlation exists between the highest levels of illegal and non-domestic consumption (e.g. France, UK, Ireland, Poland and Finland) and the highest taxation rates applied to fine-cut toconsbacco, in comparison with cigarettes. The figures clearly show that any alignment of tobacco taxation, regardless of the products’ specificities, will prevent fine-cut tobacco from fulfilling its buffer function, leading to increased illegal trade of cigarettes and driving down government revenues.
Read more about the relationship between tax and illegal trade