WRITTEN QUESTION E-1708/01 by Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Sale and manufacture of chewing tobacco in contravention of the directive.
Date: 2001-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Finland, Sweden, application of EU law, market approval, public health, tobacco industry, Åland

C 364 E/186

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

(2001/C 364 E/204)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1708/01

by Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Sale and manufacture of chewing tobacco in contravention of the directive

The self-governing ¯land Islands (Finland) are not complying with the ban on chewing tobacco which is in
force in the EU, but permit the sale of such tobacco on their own territory and on ferries between Finland
and Sweden. The ¯land Islands have not obtained a special authorisation from the Commission to
continue selling chewing tobacco as Sweden has done. Monitoring the implementation of the directive is
the task of the Commission. The tobacco on sale on the Islands and on ferries is produced in Sweden. It is
public knowledge that production of chewing tobacco is beginning on the Islands for the purpose of sale
on ferries.

When Sweden obtained its special exemption for the sale of chewing tobacco, it undertook that chewing
tobacco produced and sold in Sweden would not be placed on the market in other Member States in
which its sale was prohibited. This undertaking is being publicly broken, because Swedish chewing tobacco
is on open sale on the ¯land Islands and on ferries between Sweden and Finland. It has also been
demonstrated by experience, as shown in the media, that it can easily be purchased (for example) from
kiosks in Finland.

What measures does the Commission propose to take to halt the sale on the Finnish ¯land Islands and
elsewhere in Finland of chewing tobacco in contravention of the directive prohibiting its sale? What
measures does the Commission propose to take to ensure that Sweden complies with the conditions of the
exemption it obtained under the EU Treaty and ensures that Swedish chewing tobacco is no longer placed
on the market in the other Member States?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(23 July 2001)

The prohibition to place on the market tobacco for oral use which is provided for in Article 8 of Directive
2001/37/EC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member
States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products (1) is applicable to the entire
territory of Finland.

The Commission has recently been informed by a complaint that this ban may not have been implemented
in the ¯land Islands. For this reason, the Commission will ask the Finnish Government to clarify whether
the necessary legislation is in force in the ¯land Islands so that the provision referred to above is correctly
implemented.

The Commission will also inquire of the Swedish authorities on how they enforce the requirement to take
all necessary measures to ensure that tobacco for oral use legally marketed in Sweden is not put on the
market in the other Member States in accordance with Article 151 and Annex XV of the Act of Accession
of Austria, Finland and Sweden.

(1) OJ L 194, 18.7.2001.

(2001/C 364 E/205)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1712/01

by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Trafficking in young footballers

It has been established that, in various Member States, young footballers are being hired from outside the
European Union in ways which involve breaking the law. Here are a few examples: a false passport from