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 to snus. "Mu'assel", shisha tobacco, hookah tobacco, or simply "shisha" is a somewhat moist form of tobacco that is mixed with glycerin and coagulated with molasses or other sticky sweeteners and has been popular in the Middle-East for centuries. It is often smoked with a hookah. Its names include "ma'sal" (also romanized as the aforementioned "mu'assel"), "tumbâk", and "jurâk". "Naswar" is a type of smokeless tobacco popular in Afghanistan and surrounding countries. It is moist and powdered, and lime or juniper is added for flavor. Snuff is a generic term for fine-ground smokeless tobacco products. Originally the term referred only