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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

This week saw the presentation of OLAF’s annual report. As Director-General Nicholas Ilett put it, “Our investigative performance in 2017 shows that our work is essential in protecting EU taxpayers’ money and ensuring that EU funds do not fuel fraud and corruption instead of financing projects that can bring real added-value to citizens.” Read More

A recent study published by independent polling company Kantar TNS shows that plain packaging has not had a measurable effect on smoking prevalence in the United Kingdom. Less than a year after its introduction, the government must now acknowledge the failure of this widely unpopular measure. The study reveals that a clear majority of UK citizens (65%) believe that plain-packaging has failed to deliver results and constitutes a poor allocation of budgetary resources. Initially introduced in Australia in 2012, the policy has never been shown to have any impact on smoking rates. Read More

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the UK government to provide clarity on the new EU track and trace requirements for tobacco products. The government has said that there will be no fees associated with the application process for the codes, but there is still a lack of clarity over the time that retailers will be given to apply for the codes, and there are still “unanswered questions” about the operation of the regulations. Read More

Talking Retail reports on a new study highlighting the impact of plain packaging regulation in the UK on the one year anniversary of its introduction. The study shows that 58% of retailers are aware of fake (counterfeit) plain packaged tobacco products being sold in their local area, while 72% believe that there is more illegal or very cheap tobacco sold in their local area than before plain packaging was introduced. Read More

A new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs attacks the disastrous practice of governments using sin taxes to change the behaviour of their citizens. The report follows a joint call from Michael Bloomberg and the WHO to use “intelligent taxation” to raise the price of products such as tobacco. Such taxation, the IEA argues, is regressive and far overreaches the proper competencies of the State. Read More