[Intl-tobacco] European Commission drops plan for tobacco curb (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

European Commission drops plan for tobacco curb
by Francesco Guerrera / in Brussels
Source: Financial Times (uk), 2001-10-01

The European Commission has scrapped plans for a ban on Europe-wide sales
promotions of tobacco products amid fears of lawsuits from manufacturers
and national governments.

The Brussels authorities had agreed to publish on Tuesday proposals to
outlaw all cross-border promotions such as gifts, discounts and special
offers on tobacco products in an effort to reduce smoking among European
Union citizens.

The proposed rules would have deprived tobacco manufacturers of a
marketing tool that has become more and more important over the past few
years as many European countries have introduced restrictions on tobacco
advertising.

The draft, seen by the Financial Times, said: "Since it is recognised that
the consumption of [tobacco products] damages public health, the need to
prohibit this strong incentive to consume is self-evident."

However, at a meeting of senior officials last week, the Commission's
legal experts warned that sales promotions were already covered by
proposals for a ban on tobacco advertising.

These, currently being discussed, fall short of a total ban on sales
promotions: they bar companies from advertising discounts and special
offers in the press, radio and internet but not on billboards.

However, it is understood that the legal experts argued that having two
different regulations on the same subject would create confusion and could
pave the way to legal challenges by tobacco groups and member states.

The withdrawn proposals on tobacco were a small part of a wide-ranging
regulation on EU-wide sales promotions across the EU that will be
published on Tuesday.

Unlike the case with tobacco, the plans, prepared by the Commission's
internal market directorate, aim to help companies to run Europe-wide
sales promotions by eliminating the restrictions imposed by national
governments.

The Commission's proposals, which are set to be approved on Tuesday, will
remove barriers to cross-border sales promotions by harmonising rules
across the EU member states.