European Union: the challenge of illicit tobacco trade
December 18, 2020
Par: National Committee Against Smoking
Dernière mise à jour: December 18, 2020
Temps de lecture: 5 minutes
In the context of the upcoming revision of the European Tobacco Products Directive, a parliamentary working group has been formed around Michèle Rivasi and Christian Busoi, both MEPs. The aim of the revision of this directive is to correct the current European regulatory shortcomings in the fight against illicit trade and to supplement the legislation, particularly due to the emergence of new tobacco products, such as heated tobacco.
To this end, a series of webinars are being organised on the issue of tobacco control. On 17 December 2020, a webinar was held on the topic of illicit trade in tobacco products. Three speakers took the floor to present the main European issues in the fight against illicit trade: Anca Toma, Director of the Smoke-Free Partnership, Luk Joossens, an international expert on illicit tobacco trade for almost 30 years, and Vinayak Prasad, Programme Manager at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and expert in taxation and illicit trade in tobacco products.
Revise the Directive to combat illicit trade
The webinar highlighted that the fight against illicit trade must be considered a priority. First, because it reduces the effectiveness of public health measures by increasing the accessibility of tobacco products. Second, because it represents a real tax issue: as Anca Toma points out, tobacco consumption costs the State six to eight times more than it represents in tax revenue. Furthermore, as Vinayak Prasad points out, the tobacco industry remains engaged, directly or indirectly, in the global illicit trade in tobacco products, which is part of organized crime.
The tobacco industry is not a partner in the fight against illicit trade
The European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD)[1], from 2014, does not take into account the WHO Protocol to eliminate illicit trade[2], adopted two years later. In particular, Christian Busoi mentioned the importance for the European Union to revise Articles 15 and 16 of the current Directive, by integrating the principles of the WHO Protocol, which are binding on the European Union. According to Luk Joossens, an effective fight against illicit trade in tobacco products requires the definitive cessation of cooperation agreements between the tobacco industry on the one hand, and the European Union or the Member States on the other. Indeed, since cigarette manufacturers cannot be considered as potential partners for public action, the cooperative paradigm is not identified as effective. This principle has also been an obligation since the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)[3], which plans to limit interactions between public authorities and cigarette manufacturers to what is strictly necessary.
The challenge of an independent tracking and tracing system
Article 8 of the Protocol obliges Parties to establish an independent tracking and tracing system for all tobacco products. These obligations cannot be delegated or carried out by the tobacco industry. The current European Directive does not currently respect these obligations. In particular, Article 15 allows the tobacco industry to choose itself the companies mandated to store tracking and tracing data. In addition, manufacturers have the ability to choose the auditors who are supposed to control them and with whom they also maintain close relations. In addition, the legal and financial criteria defined at European level do not guarantee this independence and are easily circumvented. Thus, the reliability of the data is far from guaranteed. According to Luk Joossens, the European Commission should have control over the entire mechanism of the tracking and tracing system, and provide a mandatory annual report made public, in order to evaluate its effectiveness.
Keywords: TPD Review, Illicit Trade
[1] Eur-Lex, Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU)
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0040
[2] World Health Organization, Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products
[3] World Health Organization, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
National Committee Against Smoking |
