World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan accused Philip Morris International (PMI) of working to sabotage a vote on European Union tobacco regulation until it can be heard before a friendlier venue.
“A massive army of lobbyists has been deployed (by PMI) to delay or block passage of the law until the European Council presidency moves to Greece, where the company has opened a huge hub for the production and distribution of cigarettes throughout Europe,” Chan said in the text of an 11 Sept address to a public health conference in New Delhi.
Chan accused the tobacco industry of ruthlessly exploiting commercial interests to prevent government regulation.”The most recent example concerns efforts on the part of Philip Morris to sabotage the vote on a strong European Directive on tobacco”, she said.
A vote by the European Parliament on revisions to the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was pushed back one month to 8 Oct at the request of the centre-right European Peoples Party.