The “No Thank EU” campaign gives retailers and consumers the opportunity to register their opposition to the proposed regulations that include a ban on menthol cigarettes and 10-packs.
The revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) will also outlaw smaller pouches of roll-your-own tobacco, restrict the size and shape of cigarette packets, and impose larger health warnings on all tobacco products.
Forest campaigns manager Angela Harbutt said: “Prohibition doesn’t work. Retailers will be robbed of income from outlawed products and, denied choice, consumers will be driven to the black market where there will be a flourishing trade in banned goods.
“The Directive is proceeding with indecent haste. Members of Parliament have been denied the opportunity to scrutinise the proposals, yet the impact on retailers and consumers in Britain is potentially enormous.
“Regulations like this should be a matter for elected politicians in Westminster, not unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. We urge retailers and consumers who share our concern to make their opinions known by supporting our campaign.”
The launch of the “No Thank EU” campaign follows the success of Forest’s “Hands Off Our Packs” campaign, which generated a “huge response” to the government’s consultation on plain packaging of tobacco.
Over 420,000 people registered their opposition to the policy, over 265,000 of them via Forest.
