New EU smoking directive will cut treasury revenue, claims tobacco industry

“These changes will greatly diminish [revenue coming in to] the Polish budget,” says Magdalena Wlodarczyk, Director of the National Association of Tobacco Producers.

According to a leaked draft to the German media earlier this month, written by the European Commission, new directives will demand standardised cigarette packaging, a ban on slim, coloured and menthol cigarettes and an increase in the size of health warnings on packets.

“Nearly eight percent of total budget revenue comes from tobacco products, says Magdalena Wlodarczyk.

“The proposed changes will greatly facilitate the counterfeiting of these products, which will lead to significant growth in the 'shadow economy'” she told Polish Radio.

She added that “Poland is Europe's largest manufacturer of tobacco products with 500,000 people working in the industry”.

Poland's Finance Ministry does not agree, however, that the proposals will be bad for Poles.

“This will reduce the number of people addicted to tobacco and improve the health of the population,” says ministry spokeswoman Wieslawa Druszcz. (pg)