About Us

HOW WE WORK | MEET THE TEAM | CONTACT

We are the voice of companies manufacturing, distributing and selling fine-cut tobacco, pipe tobacco, and traditional European nasal snuff and chewing tobaccos. These smoking tobacco products are part of an enduring European cultural heritage.

Our members are mainly mid-sized companies, including SMEs and several generations-old family-owned businesses . Many are still rooted where they began and have grown from manufacturing and selling locally to operating as truly European companies reaching consumers throughout the EU and beyond.

HOW WE WORK

ESTA SECRETARIAT

PRODUCTS WORKING GROUP

Chairman :
Mr. Klaus Berens

TAX & TRADE WORKING GROUP

Chairman :
Mr. Mark Kristen Draper

MEET THE TEAM

Peter van der Mark
Secretary General

Peter has been Secretary General of ESTA since 2010, with overall responsibility for the association and its representation with EU Institutions, governments and media. Peter administers and advises the Board of ESTA as well as the General Assembly, and oversees all ESTA Working Groups.

peter.vandermark@esta.be

Anna Zachariadou
EU Affairs Policy Officer

Anna joined ESTA in 2021 and oversees ESTA’s products regulation as well as its regulatory issues. She manages the ESTA Working Groups on Products, Pipe Tobacco and Smokeless Tobacco, in addition to the Technical Task Force.

Anna.zachariadou@esta.be

William Meyer
Senior EU Affairs Manager

William joined ESTA in 2016 with a focus on taxation, customs and trade issues, as well as the association’s office management. He manages the Tax and Trade Working Group, and represents ESTA in the European Commission’s Expert Group for Trade and the Excise Contact Group.

william.meyer@esta.be

CONTACT

DETAILS

ADDRESS

Rond-Point Schuman 9, 1040 Brussels

TELEPHONE

+32 (0)2 230 80 92

info@esta.be

Between 2008 and 2012, consumption of fine-cut tobacco in the EU28 increased by 37%, even though the increase varies heavily per Member State. Because of the severe economic crisis, consumer disposable income was under pressure, impacting the growth of fine-cut tobacco consumption. This increase demonstrates the price sensitivity of fine-cut tobacco smokers.

As the economic crisis subsided between 2012 and 2015, fine-cut tobacco consumption declined in the EU and the market adjusted, returning to its pre-crisis normal order.

In 2016, sales of fine-cut tobacco kept declining by 1.09% in the EU28. This long=term downward trend follows to an extent industry consolidation.

Seemingly out of step, several eastern countries still experience percentage increases in fine-cut tobacco sales whilst starting at very low sales levels. This demonstrates the buffer function of fine-cut tobacco: cigarette consumers who can no longer afford this product find in fine-cut tobacco a legal alternative to illegal cigarettes that are often smuggled from neighbouring countries outside the EU (see London Economics Study, June 2015).

Sometimes fine-cut tobacco is mistakenly presented as a “hook” to smoking because of its relatively higher affordability when compared to cigarettes.

The reality of the market shows a very different picture. In most European countries, fine-cut tobacco was and still is a niche tobacco product enjoyed by “specialist” consumers and traditional tobacco enthusiasts who enjoy fine European craftsmanship.

Few exceptions exist with high market shares in countries where fine-cut tobacco has a long history and forms part of the cultural heritage. In these specialised tobacco markets, the significance of fine-cut tobacco stems from its century-old local manufacturing.

Every year, taxes on tobacco products raise more than €100 billion for EU governments. Tobacco tax policy must be delicately balanced to safeguard government revenues, protect fair competition, jobs and public health, whilst also deterring trade in illegal tobacco. Tobacco smuggling and sales of illegal tobacco products threaten this income and society at large. The fight against illegally traded tobacco is part of a wider effort to protect EU citizens.

A successful implementation of Track & Trace will be of crucial importance, and requires workable standards that fit business and trading practices, making them likely to be internationally shared.

Read more about tobacco track & trace