The EU Parliamentary committee (ENVI) responsible for making recommendations on the revised proposed EU Tobacco Products Directive were due to vote on the proposals last Thursday (5 September).
They also planned to ban slim cigarettes and slim and 'lipstick' style cigarette packs. In addition, the directive could also lead to Member States' right to adopt stronger national measures such as standard packaging.
Health campaigners claim that these plans will save lives.
'Extreme measures'
Mike Ridgway, a spokesman for UK packaging manufacturers in the tobacco sector, told PN that he welcomed the news. He explained: "We welcome the delay in vote on the Tobacco Products Directive, this is good news for the packaging industry and their employees who would have been affected by the extreme measures proposed in the directive but also by the sign of common sense and good governance as the MEP's agreed that more time was needed to discuss and reflect upon these severe restrictions.
"We hope that the parliament will consider all the consequences of such measures and in particular the increase in the illicit trade in counterfeit product that would arise from simplifying the specification of the packaging."
Ridgway added that the packaging industry has always supported effective regulation of tobacco products to meet the objective of reducing the uptake of smoking by young people but believe that this should be achieved by education, better information and increased cultural awareness of the implications of smoking rather than by excessive regulation upon which there is no evidence that it will work.
Confidential documents
However, media reports alleged that tobacco groups helped to delay the vote. The Observer reported that it obtained confidential documents to show how Philip Morris International employed 161 people to combat the proposed directive. According to the Observer, the document shows that lobbyists claimed almost £1.25m in expenses for their meetings with MEPs.
However, in a statement to the Observer, Philip Morris International said it would not comment on the confidential documents leaked to the Observer.
As PN published this story this morning nobody from Philip Morris International was available for comment.
