Revisions to the European Union’s tobacco directive that mandate large pictorial health warnings and ban characterising flavours in cigarettes and rolling tobacco are expected to enter into force in May, the EU Council said.

Member states will have two years from that date to implement new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) provisions, which include phase-in periods for bans on more popular products such as menthol cigarettes. The directive includes the first set of EU regulations for electronic cigarettes and calls for a track and trace system to control illicit trade in tobacco products.
According to Philip Morris International (PMI), the revised directive will, “further erode intellectual property rights and undermine the EU Charter where these rights are protected.”
“Instead of further harmonising the internal market, a stated objective of the directive, measures in the TPD will do little to improve public health and will make the EU less competitive, pushing even more consumers to the unregulated black market in tobacco. This will be a blow to the hundreds of thousands of people working in the legal industry and member state governments now faced with filling budget gaps,” PMI EU Regional President Drago Azinovic said in a statement on 14 March, the day the Council approved the package. Poland was the only member voting against adoption, the EU said.