Philip Morris International Comments on the Tobacco Products Directive Adoption by the European Parliament

Source from:  Financial Post  02/27/2014

Philip Morris International Inc.'s (PMI) (NYSE/ Paris Euronext: PM) EU Region President Drago Azinovic made the following comment regarding the adoption by the European Parliament of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD):

"The Tobacco Products Directive adopted by the European Parliament today represents a worrying departure from the EU's basic standards of proportionate, evidenced-based policymaking, which will further erode intellectual property rights and undermine the EU Charter where these rights are protected.

"Instead of further harmonizing the internal market, a stated objective of the Directive, measures in the TPD will make the EU less competitive and be a gift for the criminals profiting from the black market in tobacco. This will be a blow to the hundreds of thousands of people working in the legal industry and member state governments now faced with filling budget gaps." Enditem