煙草在線據《愛爾蘭獨立報》報道編譯　　對于歐盟提出的禁止小包裝手卷煙銷售提案，愛爾蘭的商店業主們感到十分震驚。他們說，這會推動走私，而且對不太富裕的吸煙者也不公平。

　　根據歐盟的提案草案，手卷煙只能以每包40克或40克以上的包裝出售。

　　愛爾蘭大多數人購買的煙草是每包12.5克，售價大約為5歐元。根據這項被便民店和報刊經銷店協會強烈質疑的歐盟計劃，這意味著手卷煙的吸食者必須為每包設置了新的最低限量的手卷煙支付大約16歐元。

　　便民店和報刊經銷店協會的文森特·詹寧斯說，這項提高每包手卷煙最低重量的提案的出臺，是因為歐盟希望煙盒上的健康警語能夠更大一些，但這種觀點是騙人的，因為在愛爾蘭出售的所有三種重量的手卷煙的包裝尺寸都是一樣的。

　　在提交給歐洲委員會的意見中，便民店與報刊經銷店協會指出：“愛爾蘭的25克裝手卷煙的零售價格為10歐元。2012年在愛爾蘭售出的307噸手卷煙中，大多數為12.5克的小袋裝。這些小袋裝的手卷煙零售價為每包5歐元，在市場中占據68%的市場份額。25克裝的小袋裝擁有29%的市場份額。唯一的另一種尺寸的手卷煙小袋為50克裝，這種手卷煙占據3%的市場份額?！?/p>

　　便民店與報刊經銷店協會說：“我們提出，我們手卷煙的走私水平要比卷煙的走私水平低，其原因是手卷煙吸食者能夠以每包5歐元的價格購買到合法產品，而不需要與控制著走私市場的大量犯罪團伙中的任何人打交道，這是完全合理的?！?/p>

Ireland: Shop Owners Angry at EU Tobacco Plans

　　Shop owners in Ireland are alarmed at proposals by the EU to ban the sale of roll-your-own tobacco in small packages, which they say will boost smuggling and be unfair to less well off smokers.

　　Under draft proposals, roll-your-own (RYO) will only be available in packs of 40 grammes or more.

　　Most people in Ireland buy their tobacco in 12.5g packs, which cost about €5. Under the EU plan, which is being challenged strongly by the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA), it would mean smokers of RYO would have to pay about €16 for a new minimum sized pack.

　　Vincent Jennings of the CSNA says the proposal to increase the minimum weight has emerged because the EU want health warnings to be larger on the packs, but this argument is spurious because all three weights of tobacco sold in Ireland are contained in packages of identical size.

　　In a submission to the Commission, the CSNA pointed out: "The retail price for RYO in Ireland is €10 for 25g. The majority of sales of the 307 tonnes sold in Ireland in 2012 were in pouches of 12.5g. These retail at €5 and had a 68 per cent share of the market. The 25g pouch holds 29 per cent market share. The only other size of RYO pouch is 50g with a three per cent share.

　　"It is perfectly reasonable for us to suggest that the reason that our RYO smuggling rate is lower than that of the cigarette rate is due to the fact that a RYO smoker can purchase a legitimate packet for €5 and does not have to engage with any of the large number of criminal gangs that control the smuggling market," the CSNA said. Enditem