BANS on cigarette packs below 20 sticks and RYO tobacco packs below 30g moved a step closer late last month when the revised European Union Tobacco Products Directive (EUTPD) was endorsed by public health committee MEPs at the European Parliament.
The agreed text will be debated and voted on at a full meeting of the European Parliament, either late this month or in mid March.
The directive, if the agreed text is passed, will require all cigarette packs to carry a health warning covering at least 65% of their surface, front and back.
Cigarettes sold in packs of less than 20 and roll-your-own tobacco in packs of under 30g will be banned.
Flavourings in cigarettes and RYO tobacco will be banned, though menthol will be exempt for a period, probably until 2020.
E-cigarettes will be regulated either as medicinal products, if they make claims to help people quit smoking, or as tobacco products. In the latter case cartridges will be limited to containing a similar amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. E-cigarettes will be required to be childproof and will carry health warnings and be subject to advertising restrictions.
