Italy Becomes the 9th EU Country to Oppose Ireland's Plain Tobacco Packaging Proposal
On September 18, the final day for EU member states to raise objections, Italy announced its opposition to Ireland's plain tobacco packaging proposal. Italy became the ninth EU country to oppose the proposal. The other eight were Bulgaria, the Czech Repub
On September 18, the final day for EU member states to submit objections, Italy voiced its opposition to Ireland’s plain tobacco packaging proposal.
Italy is the 9th EU country to oppose the proposal. The other 8 are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. Together, the 9 countries that raised objections have a combined population of 201.7 million, accounting for 40% of the EU’s total population. Ireland hopes to become the first country in the EU to implement a plain packaging law. The law would ban the use of various branding elements on tobacco packaging. All packaging would be required to carry pictorial health warnings, and terms such as “low tar” would be prohibited. These countries submitted what are known as detailed opinions because they believe such national rules “may create obstacles to the free movement of goods, the freedom to provide services, and the freedom of service operators to establish themselves in the domestic market.” Ireland’s Department of Health said that “all comments submitted are currently under review” and that it will respond to the European Commission in due course.
