A tobacco working group set up in parliament on Tuesday approved the introduction of a European directive into Portuguese law, which Portugal had to adopt urgently under penalty of penalties for non-compliance, a parliamentary source told Lusa.
The publication reported this PublicAccording to which, the new tobacco law only includes equating e-cigarettes with traditional tobacco, discarding the most controversial proposals, such as banning the sale and consumption of tobacco near schools, at gas stations or on terraces with some surface.
“All that was left was a transposition of the directive, what we voted for was simply a transposition of the European Union directive because that was what was urgently needed. Portugal had deadlines and the deadlines were exceeded,” explained MP Maria Antonia Almeida Santos, who is part of the working group created within the health commission.
“Before the dissolution of parliament, we were all able to agree,” the socialist MP added, referring to the position of parliamentary groups on enforcing the European directive.
According to the parliamentarian, other issues related to health promotion and the sale of tobacco products will be left for another time.
Voting in the specialty working group will be followed by a final global vote in plenary this week.
The tobacco law was one of the documents that might not come into force after the political crisis caused by the resignation of Prime Minister Antonio Costa and the dissolution of parliament as part of a judicial investigation.
The government bill was approved at the end of September and referred to the Health Committee, receiving only positive votes from the majority of members of the Parliamentary Party and non-aligned Socialist MPs (two votes against and 14 abstentions). Enough, IL and BE voted against and PSD, PCP, PAN and Livre abstained.
The text equated traditional tobacco with heated tobacco, tightened the ban on vending machines, and banned outdoor smoking near schools, colleges or hospitals.
Parliament is operating at full capacity until dissolution, scheduled for mid-January, giving MPs several weeks to approve diplomas considered most important, but processes will have to be sped up in light of changes to the calendar.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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