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EU adopts 'track-and-trace' tobacco system
By EUobserver
The European Commission adopted on Friday a legal act requiring a 'track-and-trace' system for tobacco products to tackle smuggling and tax avoidance. Tobacco control groups were worried the system would lack independence, but the commission said in a statement on Friday that control of the system will be fully "in the hands of the national authorities (and not the tobacco industry)".