The lower house Bundestag incorporated the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) into national law, rejecting industry pleas to delay implementation of new packaging requirements beyond 20 May.

Adoption of the new standards 90 days before implementation does not give manufacturers time to make capital investments needed to meet the new requirements, said Christian Cordes, corporate affairs director at Reemstma, an Imperial Brands subsidiary. EU printing standards were modified as late as mid-February and the German upper house has not yet voted on the changes, he said in arguing for delay.
Two EU countries, Poland and Romania, are discussing delaying TPD implementation to allow time for retooling, according to Reemstma and national tobacco industry associations. Those delays could create market disruptions, they said.
Among the changes in EU tobacco regulation are larger package warnings to include graphics, and elimination of smaller pack sizes for combustible products.