Plain tobacco packaging support from health associations. As in other countries, there was fierce protest from the tobacco industry and tobacco retailers associations. The Health Minister also seemed lukewarm in his support, preferring to see the effect of newly-introduced health warnings. Under the next legislature however, the new Socialist Health Minister, Marisol Touraine, said she would fight especially at the European level for "neutral packaging". As in Australia, the tobacco industry countered that generic packaging would be easy to counterfeit, which would increase illegal cigarette sales. The EU directive eventually contained no explicit measures regarding plain packaging. In reaction, the French government announced
Tobacco products Tobacco products Tobacco is the agricultural product of the leaves of plants in the genus "Nicotiana". All species of "Nicotiana" contain the addictive drug nicotine—a stimulant and sedative contained in all parts of the plants except the seeds—which occurs in varying amounts depending on the species and variety cultivated. See types of tobacco and curing of tobacco for more information. The vast majority of commercially available tobacco is derived from the species "Nicotiana tabacum", although it is also produced from "Nicotiana alata", and to a lesser extent "Nicotiana clevelandii", "Nicotiana longiflora", and "Nicotiana rustica", among others. Once tobacco has been