MEPs vote to tighten cigarette laws

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 per cent of each cigarette pack, as opposed to the proposed 75 per cent.

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

The vote also includes a ban on words like “light”, “mild” and “low tar” and a ban on oral tobacco.

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

Health campaigners welcomed the news but manufacturer British American Tobacco claimed many elements of the plan “could be in breach of European law”.

A spokesman said: “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.

“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.”

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

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.”

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.”

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.”

Angela Harbutt, campaigns manager of the smokers’ group Forest, said: “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: “It’s positive news that cigarette warnings are getting substantially bigger but MEPs could and should have gone further.

“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.”