MPs want to end Luxembourg's oversupply of tobacco

A motion for a resolution, tabled by 33 French MPs, calls on the government to advocate at the European Union level for the establishment of tobacco delivery quotas by country, corresponding to their actual domestic consumption of these products. The motion for a resolution thus aims to initiate a European debate on the practices of oversupply by the tobacco industry, fuelling parallel markets.

This motion for a resolution is supported by the MP and former Minister of Health Frédéric Valletoux, as well as by the entire Horizons & Independents parliamentary group of the National Assembly. The text follows the bill filed in November 2023 by Frédéric Valletoux, aiming for a similar objective, but which could not be achieved due to the parliamentary events of recent months[1].

Parallel markets fueled by the tobacco industry

According to available public data, parallel markets represent around 20% of national consumption, a proportion that has been stable since at least 2014. Beyond penalizing part of the effectiveness of public health policies, parallel markets constitute a major tax issue, with an annual loss of tax revenue estimated at around two billion euros, according to a parliamentary information report published in September 2021. According to Santé publique France, the vast majority of the parallel market is made up of legal purchases, relating to cross-border trade, purchases abroad or in duty free. As recalled in the motion for a resolution tabled by Frédéric Valletoux, parallel markets are largely organised by manufacturers, who "oversupply [...] tobacco sellers in countries bordering France, namely Andorra, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium and Spain to supply French smokers".

A provision already provided for by the WHO Protocol ratified by the European Union

The authors of the text point out that the European Union and 19 of its Member States, including France, have ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. This provides in particular for the establishment of tobacco delivery quotas by country, based on actual national consumption. The quantities supplied could change over the years, depending on national health and tax policies, without however being able to exceed +5 % of the theoretical quantity of tobacco required, calculated on the basis of actual consumption recorded the previous year. Limiting the supply implies control of the production and delivery of tobacco by a monitoring and tracing system that is completely independent of the manufacturers. This obligation, provided for in Article 8-12 of the Protocol, is not currently respected by the current European system.

Reviewing the European Union's tracking and tracing system

In view of the upcoming revision of the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), the motion for a resolution calls on the Government to make "the fight against parallel trade a priority in the fight against smoking" and to advocate at European Union level for the introduction of quotas. The text recalls that while all Member States voted in favour of ratifying the Protocol, eight of them have not ratified it, such as Luxembourg and Spain. In France, almost ten years after the ratification of the text, it has still not been implemented. Finally, the motion reaffirms "the urgent need to strengthen controls in the supply chain by establishing an independent monitoring and traceability system" for manufacturers.

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] National Assembly, Motion for a resolution on the implementation of the World Health Organization Protocol to Combat Illicit Trade in Tobacco, 02/13/2025, (accessed 03/05/2025)