Japan Tobacco International (JTI) warned tough new rules on tobacco products proposed for the European Union amount to a blueprint for counterfeiters, while the EU forecast even stricter controls in the future.

A revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) will go to the European Parliament (EP) and Council of member states for final votes next year. EU negotiators hammered out a unitary version in talks that concluded 18 Dec. Approval of what emerged from the talks would fundamentally change the European tobacco market from 2016.
Graphic warnings on cigarette and roll-your-own (RYO) packaging would cover 65 per cent of the front and back. Current EU regulation calls for warnings on at least 30 per cent of the front and 40 per cent on the flipside.
JTI warned the new packaging rules would make it easier for counterfeiters to produce and sell cheap cigarettes not tested, making them potentially more dangerous to consumers, and reducing tax revenue. "The more complex and innovative the packaging is, the more difficult it is to counterfeit. Simply put, these restrictions will give counterfeiters a blueprint on how to fake a pack", said Ben Townsend, JTI’s head of EU Affairs.
Menthol cigarettes may be banned from the summer of 2020 as part of a general ban on characterising flavours in cigarettes and RYO. The four-year phase out for menthol also would apply to products with characterising flavours that comprise more than 3 per cent of the EU market.
Packs with fewer than 20 cigarettes or 30 mg RYO would be banned, as would ‘lipstick’ packaging deemed overtly appealing to youth.
“Even more rigorous regulation of the tobacco market will need to be continued in the future”, said Lithuania, the holder of the revolving EU Presidency. “It is just a starting point in implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization”, said Lithuanian Minister of Health Vytenis Andriukaitis.
Additives essential to producing tobacco, like sugar, would be allowed, but a ‘priority list’ of permitted additives would be drawn up by the European Commission, according to a statement by the EP Health Committee. The Lithuanian Presidency said 15 additives will comprise the priority list and manufacturers will have 18 months from implementation of the new TPD to submit reports on those additives.
A “dual route” was agreed for e-cigarettes, the Health Committee said. E-cigarettes making no claim to cure or prevent smoking would be put in general distribution as a tobacco product, subject to a maximum nicotine content of 20 mg/ml. Products marketed as preventive or cures would be regulated as medicinal products.
Refillable cartridges would be allowed, however the Commission was granted the power to ban them via delegated act if three states impose national bans.
A track and trace system, the first EU-wide tracking system, would be introduced, including security features such as holograms. Member states would have the right to ban cross-border sales, such as via the Internet.
"The TPD has been negotiated hastily, pushed by political agendas, with little consideration given to the effectiveness of the numerous measures and the cost entailed for EU member states and businesses”, said JTI’s Townsend.
EP Health Committee Chairman Matthias Groote said, "we have a balanced text, which can deliver on its key objective: banning misleading flavours and products, and deter young people from smoking. Member states may of course go further and implement plain packaging if they so wish."