The European Parliament in Strasbourg voted on a raft of measures to help curb smoking but stopped short of introducing plain packaging for cigarettes and tobacco.

Legislators put new limits on advertising for electronic cigarettes but have so far rejected proposals for them to be regarded as medicinal products.

Menthol and other flavours will be banned from 2022 but there is to be no ban on packs of slim cigarettes.

MEPs voted to put health warnings on 65% of each cigarette pack, as opposed to the proposed 75%.

At present, warnings should cover at least 30% of the front and 40% of the back of cigarette packs, with a border surrounding them.

Today s vote also includes a ban on words like light , mild and low tar and a ban on oral tobacco although Sweden would retain its exemption.

Today marked the European Parliament s first reading of the draft tobacco directive which could become law in 2014.

There will now be further negotiations with the Council the grouping of relevant EU ministers.

Disproportionate say tobacco firms

Health campaigners welcomed the news but British American Tobacco said the agreement went too far.

A spokesman said We ve always said that we support sensible, balanced regulation that takes into account all the people it will impact before being decided on and implemented.

We have made it clear throughout this process that many of the proposals on the table were not proportionate, were unlikely to succeed in addressing public health objectives, and would lead to an increase in black market sales.

Although there are clearly many differing opinions among MEPs when it comes to this directive, it appears as if some sensible modifications have been made.

However, much of this directive remains disproportionate and could be in breach of European law.

For example, health warnings covering more than half of the cigarette pack goes well beyond what is needed to fully inform consumers of the health risks and a ban on mentholated cigarettes will only increase the demand for black market goods.

The weight of evidence shows that smokers of menthol cigarettes face no higher risk of tobacco related diseases than smokers of non menthol cigarettes, that they find it no more difficult to quit and that the availability of menthol cigarettes does not increase youth initiation of smoking.

Banning menthol in cigarettes is not justifiable based on the available scientific evidence.

On packaging, the spokesman said the firm strongly opposed the standardisation of our products.

No evidence has been presented to justify why it is deemed necessary to restrict the dimensions or colours of a package or the way in which it can be opened.

E cig plan could be changed

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK has said it intends to make e cigarettes medicinal products but today s decision could alter those plans.

An MHRA spokesman said The UK Government s position is that the public health priority of reducing the harms of smoking can best be achieved by the regulation of nicotine containing products (NCPs), including electronic cigarettes, under the medicines framework and supports the European Commission s Tobacco Products Directive.

Some campaigners had called for e cigarettes to be subjected to the same regulation as nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) such as patches and gum.

E cigarettes consist of a battery, a cartridge containing nicotine, a solution of propylene glycol or glycerine mixed with water, and an atomiser to turn the solution into a vapour.

Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies said after the vote E cigs can be a game changer in the fight against smoking. Hundreds of former smokers have written to tell me that they have helped them give up cigarettes when nothing else worked.

Conservative MEP Martin Callanan said Forcing e cigs off the shelves would have been totally crazy.

These are products that have helped countless people stop smoking more harmful cigarettes and yet some MEPs wanted to make them harder to manufacture than ordinary tobacco.

Adrian Everett, chief executive of e cigarette brand E Lites, said This is a fantastic result for public health and the millions of smokers around Europe who are switching to e cigarettes.

We would have been in the absurd position of the Department of Health making it much easier to make and sell tobacco cigarettes than e cigarettes which are vastly less harmful.

Tom Rolfe, president of the Skycig brand of e cigarettes said Skycig welcome any regulations which will help us to ensure that under 18s cannot access electronic cigarettes and to ensure that all e cigarette companies must produce products of a high standard, in the same way that Skycig and other reputable e cigarette companies do.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said We are pleased that MEPs recognised the importance of increasing the size of health warnings and that these will be placed at the top of the packs to make them more visible.

Despite unprecedented levels of lobbying by the tobacco industry to undermine the directive it is gratifying that MEPs stood firm on many of the key measures.

Mixed feelings from smokers

Angela Harbutt, campaigns manager of the smokers group Forest, said Consumers will have mixed feelings.

We welcome the fact that some products have been reprieved while menthol cigarettes have been given a stay of execution, but consumers are still angry that the EU is trying to restrict or ban products they have purchased and enjoyed for many years.

Prohibition doesn t work and products that are banned will almost certainly be available on the unregulated black market.

Maura Gillespie, policy programme director at the British Heart Foundation, said MEPs have missed an opportunity to make real inroads into curbing the number of young people taking up smoking.

It s positive news that cigarette warnings are getting substantially bigger but MEPs could and should have gone further.

Research shows health warnings that take up 75% or more of a cigarette box are more effective at reducing the attractiveness of products among our young people.

The ban on flavoured tobacco is also welcome but it s extremely disappointing slim cigarettes have not been banned.

They re dangerous products often targeted at young women that can mislead people about the harms of smoking.

Now it s up to the UK Government to show they re made of stronger stuff and introduce standardised packs, stripped of attractive branding, without delay.

Burning issues: rip cemeteries or rip cigarettes, which option is the eu going to take? – european public health alliance

Quitnow – cigarettes and poison

In all countries where data is available, cigarettes are the leading cause of fire deaths. In the EU25, at least 1,000 people, including children and older people, are estimated to be killed each year. This estimate is conservative, and do not take account of the economic costs of fires. In the US, property losses from smoking material fires total hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Innocent lives, injuries and destruction of property could be prevented through the introduction of a fire safety standard for cigarettes cigarettes would extinguish themselves in most cases when not puffed. These cigarettes are commonly called RIP Cigarettes (Reduced Ignition Propensity cigarettes).

Despite conclusive evidence from New York State which introduced legislation in 2004 that lives have been saved, the tobacco industry is currently arguing against RIP cigarettes because of concerns that they would be sued if fires occurred. This, in the light of the fact that they had the technology for producing “RIP” cigarettes more than 20 years ago.

As more and more governments are pushing the European Union to introduce new standards, enforcing RIP cigarettes across the EU, the European RIP Alliance wants to hasten the trend.

Across Europe, many organisations have already expressed an interest in participating in a European campaign to regulate list of these organisations is growing every day.

“Last year, the Swedish Minister of Health, Morgan Johansson said that in five years’ time, a majority of EU countries would have smoke free laws. We hope it can happen even sooner,” says Fiona Godfrey, EU Policy Advisor, European Respiratory Society speaking on behalf of the Smoke Free Partnership.

Indeed, In view of the fact that it is technologically and economically feasible for cigarettes to meet fire safety standards, tobacco manufacturers should be required to produce and market only reduced ignition propensity cigarettes in the EU. Tobacco manufacturers should use the same standard as in New York and Canada (ASTM International) E2187 02b.

To join the European RIP Alliance

If you are interested in joining the European RIP Alliance, please contact

Florence Berteletti Kemp,

EPHA Vice President & Advocacy Officer, Smoke Free Partnership, ERS Brussels Office,

39/41 Rue d’Arlon, 1000 Brussels

E mail
Tel 32 2 238 53 63
Fax 32 2 238 53 61
GSM 32 496 12 43 02

EPHA related section on tobacco