EU health commissioner resigns

European Union Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli resigned Tuesday after being cited in a probe by the EU anti-fraud office over a tobacco-linked influence-peddling claim. The European Commission said the Maltese commissioner left "with immediate effect" after informing Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso "of his decision following an investigation by OLAF, the EU's antifraud office, into a complaint" by tobacco producer, Swedish Match.
A Commission statement said the company alleged in May that a Maltese entrepreneur used his contacts with Dalli "to try to gain financial advantages from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus". Snus, or Swedish snuff - also known as Nas in some countries - is a moist powder tobacco originated from dry snuff. Though its sale is illegal across the EU, it is manufactured and used in Norway and Sweden.