烟草在线据《爱尔兰独立报》报道编译　　对于欧盟提出的禁止小包装手卷烟销售提案，爱尔兰的商店业主们感到十分震惊。他们说，这会推动走私，而且对不太富裕的吸烟者也不公平。

　　根据欧盟的提案草案，手卷烟只能以每包40克或40克以上的包装出售。

　　爱尔兰大多数人购买的烟草是每包12.5克，售价大约为5欧元。根据这项被便民店和报刊经销店协会强烈质疑的欧盟计划，这意味着手卷烟的吸食者必须为每包设置了新的最低限量的手卷烟支付大约16欧元。

　　便民店和报刊经销店协会的文森特·詹宁斯说，这项提高每包手卷烟最低重量的提案的出台，是因为欧盟希望烟盒上的健康警语能够更大一些，但这种观点是骗人的，因为在爱尔兰出售的所有三种重量的手卷烟的包装尺寸都是一样的。

　　在提交给欧洲委员会的意见中，便民店与报刊经销店协会指出：“爱尔兰的25克装手卷烟的零售价格为10欧元。2012年在爱尔兰售出的307吨手卷烟中，大多数为12.5克的小袋装。这些小袋装的手卷烟零售价为每包5欧元，在市场中占据68%的市场份额。25克装的小袋装拥有29%的市场份额。唯一的另一种尺寸的手卷烟小袋为50克装，这种手卷烟占据3%的市场份额。”

　　便民店与报刊经销店协会说：“我们提出，我们手卷烟的走私水平要比卷烟的走私水平低，其原因是手卷烟吸食者能够以每包5欧元的价格购买到合法产品，而不需要与控制着走私市场的大量犯罪团伙中的任何人打交道，这是完全合理的。”

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