On January 16, 2013, WLF filed formal comments with Ireland’s Department of Health, criticizing the European Union’s (EU) recent proposal to revise its Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) in order to tighten restrictions on the labeling and packaging of tobacco products. As a Member State of the EU, Ireland is expected to file its own comments on the proposed TPD revisions. WLF argued that the EU’s proposal, by commandeering virtually all of the surface area of tobacco packaging for the purpose of displaying anti-smoking messages, makes it virtually impossible for manufacturers to display their own trademarks and is akin to the “plain packaging” rules recently adopted in Australia. WLF charged that the proposal would violate manufacturers’ trademark rights as well as their free speech rights. Independently of the EU proposal, Ireland is considering its own “plain packaging” proposal; WLF filed comments in opposition to that proposal in June 2012.
