Smoke free partnership

Briefing on the Revision of the 2001 Tobacco Products Directive

Sam — 2010-09-01T11:07:11Z

The 2001 Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) was the first piece of major EU legislation regulating tobacco products. In the light of its revision, the Smoke Free Partnership is setting out what it wants to see in a new TPD; namely, compulsory graphic warnings and standardised packaging on all cigarette packs. - SFP Reports

World No Tobacco Day 2010 | Setting the EU tobacco control agenda and celebrating the 'Pledge'

Sam — 2010-05-18T15:38:47Z

On 31 May, the Smoke Free Partnership organised an event in the European Parliament, Brussels, to celebrate World No Tobacco Day 2010.

The conference provided an opportunity to acknowledge MEPs that are signatories to the Tobacco Free Europe campaign, to mark the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to which the EU and all but one Member State are signatories, and to celebrate The Year of The Lung.

Finally, with a new European Parliament and Commission in place and tobacco legislation now in preparation, the Smoke Free Partnership took this opportunity to reflect on the future of tobacco control at European level.

Hosted by:

Frieda Brepoels MEP
Ryszard Czarnecki MEP
Linda McAvan MEP

Speakers and Panelists:

John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy
Dr. Nedret Emiroglu, WHO EURO Director of Division
Florence Berteletti Kemp, Director - Smoke Free Partnership
Rob Cunningham, International expert on tobacco health warnings - Canadian Cancer Society
Fiona Godfrey, Regional and Legal Advisor, Europe - International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Prof. Gerard Hastings, Director - Institute for Social Marketing (UK)
Andrew Hayes, Past President - European Public Health Alliance
Luk Joossens, Advocacy Officer - Association of European Cancer Leagues
Nicola McFadyen, Youth Advocate, W-West (Why Waste Everything Smoking Tobacco)
Dr. Karine Gallopel Morvan, Associate Professor in Social Marketing - Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rennes 1
Prof. Nikos Siafakas, President - European Respiratory Society
Natasha Toropova, Advocacy Coordinator in Ukraine - Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Jean King, Cancer Research UK

This event is part of the Tobacco Free Europe Campaign initiative. The Tobacco Free Europe Campaign is committed to transparency about its funding which comes from the Smoke Free Partnership, the European Heart Network, the European Cancer Leagues, the European Respiratory Society, and the European Network for Smoking Prevention, as well as from unrestricted educational grants from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis.

Conference Material

1. World No Tobacco Day - 31 May - Final Programme

2. World No Tobacco Day - 31 May - Official Press Release

Please see below for some of the pictures from our event:

A gallery of images of the event is also available by clicking here

Australia and France forge ahead with new packaging plans

Sam — 2010-05-03T10:16:18Z

Last week, France finalised a decision to introduce graphic health warnings on all cigarette packages and this week Australia unveiled plans to become the first country to introduce mandatory standardised packaging.

Sources: Le Monde , BBC News

On 16 April 2010, France's Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot, announced that graphic health warnings will be required on all cigarette packages in France.

Text warnings will cover 30% of the front of packages, and the new pictorial warnings will cover 40% of the back of packages, in addition to border size. Fourteen of the recommended EU health warnings have been chosen, and will be required on all cigarette packages from 20 April 2011, 1 year after the publication of the official decree. Please see the PDF below to read the decision and see the proposed images.

France becomes the sixth EU country to require pictorial warnings, joining Belgium (2006), Romania (2008), UK (2008), Latvia (2010) and Malta (2011). Some non-EU countries (Switzerland, Norway and Turkey) have also required pictorial warnings based on images taken from the European Commission library of 42 images. Worldwide, at least 36 jurisdictions have required pictorial warnings.

This week, Australia has set out plans for new rules forcing tobacco companies to use standardised packaging with graphic health warnings. This will mean that from July 2012, manufacturers would be required to drop all colour and branding logos from cigarette packets. All tobacco products will be sold in a standard colour and style, and carry government health warnings.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd aims to cut smoking-related deaths to under 10% by 2018.

The Government also announced a 25% increase in tax on cigarettes, effective from Friday 30 April. The move will put A$2.16 (€1.51) on a pack of 30 cigarettes.

"We welcome the introduction of graphic warnings in France and we are thrilled that Australia understands that the tobacco package is the silent saleman to recruit young people and women to a lifetime of tobacco addiction" said Florence Berteletti Kemp, Director of the Smoke Free Partnership.

"The review of the Tobacco Products Directive currently underway constitutes a major opportunity to introduce mandatory graphic warnings and standardised packaging in the European Region (and beyond); the Australian success is a huge boost to the campaign we have started and we hope that EU decision makers will seize this opportunity to follow the Australian example."

2009 SFP Annual Report

Sam — 2010-04-20T15:35:01Z
Please see below to read about SFP activities in 2009: - SFP Annual Reports

Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) Briefing Notes for INB-4

Sam — 2010-03-05T15:19:29Z
Please see here the FCA briefing notes, ahead of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on a Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, 14-21 March 2010, Geneva. - Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

European Parliament Event: 'EU Better Regulation: from economic to citizen-centric?'

2010-02-23T12:18:34Z

In the European Parliament, Brussels, on 24 February 2010, the Smoke Free Partnership organised an event on the EU Better Regulation agenda, where a ground-breaking report on industry interference into policy-making processes was launched.

Please find below the research report, press release, event report, recommendations and the photographs from "EU Better Regulation: from economic to citizen-centric".

1. The Origin of EU Better Regulation - The Disturbing Truth

2. EU Better Regulation: Press Release

3. EU Better Regulation: Event Report

4. EU Better Regulation: Recommendations

European Parliament Seminar on Combating the Global Illicit Trade in Tobacco and the consequences for Europe and Africa

Sam — 2010-02-18T15:49:13Z

On 1 February 2010, the Smoke Free Partnership organised an event in the European Parliament in Brussels on the global illicit trade in tobacco.

The objective of the seminar was to provide an outline of the crucial discussions that will take place at the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Body meeting (INB4) in Geneva in March 2010, where the final negotiations will take place on the Illicit Trade Protocol, a subsidiary treaty to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). There was a discussion as to how the EU can impact on the negotiations, with a special reference to the problems specific to Africa.

The fifth and sixth issues in the ‘Spotlight on the FCTC' series, which cover tobacco and development policy and the illicit tobacco trade respectively, were launched.

The seminar brought together 70 participants including Members of the European Parliament, senior officials from the European Commission, representatives from the Member States, and public health and tobacco experts.

Present on the panel were Austin Rowan, Head of Unit at the European Commission's Task Group Cigarettes, European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF); Dr. Michael Anibueze, Director of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria; Luk Joossens, International Expert on the Illicit Tobacco Trade and Ian Willmore, Framework Convention Alliance.

The event was hosted by Bart Staes MEP, Vice Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Budgetary Control.

Please see below for the full report plus speaker PowerPoint presentations.

Spain to go Smoke-free in 2010

Sam — 2010-02-18T15:09:42Z

The Ministry of Health and Social Policy will ban smoking in all enclosed public spaces, entertainment venues and restaurants in 2010, according to minister Trinidad Jimenez.

Sources: Latin American Herald Tribune, RTVE and Elmundo

For Jimenez, "the problem is not smoking in public places, but in enclosed public places, and in this sense there are no plans to ban smoking on terraces and in bull rings.

The minister has acknowledged that "talks are very advanced" and there is a general consensus in the majority of political groups. "As long as we can secure political consensus, we will secure social consensus" she says, and states that the decision is easily justified as it is strongly founded on the protection of public health. "We're culturally ready to adopt it now, and we are in this final phase of negotiation," she remarks.

For months, Jimenez has been raising this issue, but until now had not specified a date. The minister has indicated on several occasions that Spanish society is ready for a total prohibition of smoking in public places and has insisted that public premises affected by the ban will not be hit economically.

Under the current law, people can smoke in restaurants and bars measuring less than 100 square metres, which account for 80% of the total number, and so the practical effects of the law are limited. Only 40,000 out of more than the 350,000 existing premises in Spain are smoke-free or allow for smoking areas, according to data from the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation (RTVE).

According to surveys conducted by the ministry, 70 percent of Spaniards would support a total ban on smoking in all enclosed areas. "I want to do it as soon as possible and I think we ready to reach a decision soon," said the minister. Jimenez pointed out that restaurant workers are harmed by the current law, and gave numbers according to which 55,000 people die from smoking each year in Spain.

Several bodies such as Spain's Collegiate Medical Organization (OMC) and National Committee for Smoking Prevention have long demanded a tightening of the rules. The OMC has repeatedly denounced the "systematic breaching" of the existing law, and has urged the parliamentary groups to support the reform.

The Spanish Hospitality Federation has of course criticized the measure, claiming that the economic harm caused would exacerbate the drop in sales from the economic crisis. They argue that it will be the bars and small establishments that will suffer most, with a further estimated sales reduction of 10%. The ban will have strong repercussions on their businesses with more than 40 percent of the clientele made up of smokers, argues Luis Guerra of the Spanish Hospitality Federation.

The National Committee for Smoking Prevention, however, argues that the experience of other countries where similar bans have been implemented has not produced negative effects for the hospitality sector. Most European Union countries already have smoking prohibitions in force in public places, although with differing degrees of severity. In the strictest countries, Ireland, Italy, France and the United Kingdom, it is prohibited to smoke in all enclosed public places.

Spotlight on the FCTC, issue 6

Sam — 2010-02-04T09:00:55Z

The sixth issue of the Spotlight on the FCTC focuses on Article 15 and the proposed Protocol, which will aim to legally commit the Parties to take action against the global illicit trade of tobacco products.

On 1 February 2010, the Smoke Free Partnership organised a seminar in the European Parliament (Brussels) on combating the global illicit trade in tobacco and the consequences for Europe and Africa. The importance of negotiating a strong Protocol at the fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB4) in Geneva in March was the main focus.

The speakers were Austin Rowan (Head of Unit, Task Group Cigarettes, at the Commission's Anti-Fraud Office [OLAF]), Dr Michael Anibueze (Director of Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria), Luk Joossens (International expert in illicit tobacco trade) and Ian Willmore (Framework Convention Alliance).

The seminar was hosted by Bart Staes MEP.

Please click here to see coverage of the event on the New Europe website.

Spotlight on the FCTC, issue 5

Sam — 2010-02-03T16:35:43Z

The fifth issue of the Spotlight on the FCTC focuses on tobacco and development policy as well as Articles 22 and 26, which cover technical assistance and financial resources respectively.

This latest edition of the 'Spotlight on the FCTC' series examines how the EU and its Member States can continue to take a leading role, by supporting and promoting collaboration in the scientific, technical and legal fields. Through its multilateral and bilateral programmes, the EU and Member States can provide the technical assistance, and financial resources, to help reduce the burden of disease caused by smoking in the very poorest areas of the world.

Tobacco use is on the rise in the developing world, impacting heavily on Africa, as well as countries such as India, China, Bangladesh and Brazil, who often lack the necessary resources, expertise and finances to adequately combat the problem.

Please see here for the SFP response to the Consultation on the EU's role in Global Health.