Debate on Tobacco agreement during the EP plenary session of &nbsp;the 25th of February in Brussels, followed by the vote on the resolution during the EP plenary session of the 9th of March in Strasbourg. Parliament will give its verdict on whether the EU&rsquo;s anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting deals with the four largest tobacco firms should be renewed in a resolution to be voted at noon. MEPs are not satisfied with the Commission's assessment of the deal with Philip Morris International (PMI), which expires in July.The results were the following: 694 voted, 414 in favour, 214 against, 66 abstentions. As a result, Resolution RC8-0312/2016 was adopted.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

vote

fight against smoking (T)

GRÄSSLE, Ingeborg (EPP, DE)

STAES, Bart (Greens/EFA, BE)

AYALA SENDER, Inés (S&D, ES)

GEORGIEVA, Kristalina (BG)

Tobacco agreement: extracts from the debate (25/02) and the votes

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Bart STAES (Greens/EFA, BE), There is legislation there, I know you are a big fan of the UN convention and the FCTC protocol, and this really is a worldwide campaign. Therefore commissioner let's not pretend that the tobacco industry is our friend. They are opponents, they are adversaries because they are against the tobacco agreement, they are against Australia and other countries when it comes to the ISDS mechanism. Of course I support you in your intention to get the UN convention and the FC, the framework convention on tobacco control, supported and ratified by the member states, that's a start, but let us have, let's push for implementation full compliance and enforcement of the tobacco directive. Let's push for the ratification of the WTO convention that's where we can start.

SOUNDBITE (English), Kristalina GEORGIEVA, Vice-President of the EC in charge of the Budget and Human Resources, The track and trace features under this directive will become mandatory for all manufacturers and importers in May 2019. Just as importantly we have the WHO framework convention on tobacco control it requires 40 ratifications to enter into force so far we have 15.

SOUNDBITE (German), Ingeborg GR&#196;SSLE (EPP, DE), We still have a great deal of smuggling going on and there we need proper investigation and due diligence. If we look at raw tobacco we have five producers in the EU and we have manufacturers who make cigarette paper, we have manufacturers of cigarette filters as well who have World-wide markets. If we keep tabs on these industries on the way they behave then we can make progress.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), In&#233;s AYALA SENDER (S&amp;D, ES), Another question is; are our custom authorities strong enough to deal with the problem of tobacco smuggling? We now have ever bigger port installation and more difficult to police and control. What can we do to better the situation here as it got tobacco smuggling? It is important that we implement the directive fully and ratify the tobacco agreement.

Vice-President Alexander Graf Lambsdorff opens the vote by show of hands.

As the result is unclear, the Vice-President re-opens the vote by roll-call.

Vice-President Alexander Graf Lambsdorff announces the results: 694 voted, 414 in favor, 214 against, 66 abstentions. As a result, Resolution RC8-0312/2016 is adopted.