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Polish tobacco industry to protest new EU menthol and slim cigarette ban

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 17.12.2012 08:59
Polish tobacco growers and cigarette manufacturers are sending a letter to PM Tusk, Monday, calling for the government to oppose new EU plans to ban menthol and 'slim' cigarette sales.

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photo - PR

“Polish tobacco growers will suffer, with the elimination of many plantations and reduced orders will mean corporations making redundancies,” says head of the Polish Tobacco Association Przemysław Noworyta.

Experts calculate a loss to the Treasury of around 9 billion zloty annually if the ban, announced by EU Commissioner Tonio Borg under a new Tobacco Products Directive last week, went ahead.

Menthol and 'slim' cigarette brands make up around 38 percent of the market in Poland and the country is a major exporter of tobacco products.

New EU rules would also ban the term 'lite' on packets and demand that health warning take up a larger surface of the packets than at present.

The UK-based The Lancet" journal published its "Global Burden of Disease Study 2010" last Thursday, saying smoking was the world's second-largest health risk on around the world. (pg)

source: IAR

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