From: Euractiv
By Claire Stam and Sarantis Michalopoulos
A female shop assistant serves a customer as all cigarettes in the shop are covered by a white sheet at a ‘Tabac’ (tobacco shop) in Montpellier, Southern France. [EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO]
The drive to impose plain packaging on tobacco products, in the hope of discouraging current and potential smokers, has pitted the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the EU against the tobacco industry.
The industry says plain packaging has no visible impact on smoking rates while it opens the door to black markets. On the contrary, the WHO insists on the effectiveness of the measure and rules out any link to illicit trade.
From its side, the EU has adopted a “wait and see” approach, expecting 2.4 million fewer smokers over a five-year period of the new Tobacco Product Directive (TPD) implementation.
