Additives in cigarettes: The tobacco industry is threatening the federal government – Tagesspiegel

The tobacco industry is threatening the government with a complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court against the new tobacco regulation. This provides that certain additives are banned in cigarettes. These include substances that enhance the addictive effect and facilitate the inhalation or absorption of nicotine. The German Cigarette Association (ODP) protesting now against the fact that the regulation will apply retroactively May 20.

By the recall of cigarettes from the market in the sector likely to suffer damage in the “high hundreds of millions, perhaps more than a billion,” said ODP CEO Jan Mücke the “Bild am Sonntag”. This was a “monstrous operation”.

With the Regulation the Federal Government is a European directive of April 2014. This requires Member States to prohibit until 20/05/2016 appropriate additives. The Cabinet had approved the draft law in December 2015, the Federal Council has yet to approve. The prohibition of additives belong to a package of measures which should protect the health especially of children and adolescents,

Künast said the chairman of the CC, Renate Künast, the Tagesspiegel. The cigarette industry has “gambled “

The Green Party politician described it as” ridiculous “, now shedding crocodile tears in public. “The tobacco industry has known for two years exactly what is up when to do.” Of course, one must criticize the federal government for their “obvious snail’s pace”, which let it look like a very late submission as if they had invented a reaction, said they. “But all the legal departments of the tobacco industry knew that there is no legal leeway to 20.5. not comply with this year. “The cigarette industry has” gambled “.

Künast 2005 had begun as a former Minister of Consumer Affairs to take the additives in cigarettes under greater scrutiny. As a first step, it ordered then that manufacturers are required to publish all additives. These are now listed in a database.

The SPD-health expert Karl Lauterbach also stressed there were no grounds to defer the regulation. “The tobacco industry had all the time in the world to prepare for this expected action,” Lauterbach told the Tagesspiegel. Deputy SPD parliamentary leader made serious allegations against the industry: “The cigarette industry is looking for ways to lead in permanent dependence young people”, he criticized. But many additives not only made more dependent, but are also carcinogenic. Lauterbach made it clear that he is no trade-sees in the SPD to debate the date of entry into force: “This is an absurd claim.”