Poland to Appeal EU Menthol Cigarette Ban

Poland will appeal the European Union's decision to ban flavoured tobacco products as it believes that it will be unfairly punished for being one of the largest producers of menthol cigarettes.

A legislation passed by the EU in October 2013 will see an EU-wide prohibition on flavoured cigarettes and tougher packaging regulations when it is implemented in 2016.

Tobacco representatives have reacted angrily to the ban, saying it was unfair on consumers and producers alike.

"Menthol cigarettes were introduced to Poland in 1953 and Polish smokers have developed a unique taste for them," Magdalena Wlodarczyk, a leading tobacco representative, told Reuters.

"There is no reason why they should get hit so hard over this."

Poland is the EU's second-largest producer of tobacco-related products, which generates over 60,000 jobs in the country.

The tobacco used for making menthol cigarettes, Burley, accounts for almost 40% of Poland's production, according to Lech Ostrowski, head of the National Union of Tobacco Farmers, and a report commissioned by Poland's National Association of the Tobacco Industry estimates that the ban will put 30,000 people out of jobs.

The same report also states that the Eastern European country will lose up to $3bn per annum in revenue as menthol smokers will turn to smuggled cigarettes from Ukraine and Belarus.

"By ensuring that tobacco products look and taste like tobacco products, the new rules will help to reduce the number of people who start smoking in the EU," was the European Health Commissioner Tonio Borg's riposte to Poland's anger.

Poland's agriculture minister Marek Sawicki said that "the war for tobacco was already lost".