BTI British American Tobacco PLC

LONDON—A U.K. public-health research body alleges that four of the world's biggest tobacco companies have flooded the U.K. government with "substandard evidence" to delay the creation of the country's plain-packaging law.

British American Tobacco PLC, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC, Japan Tobacco International Inc. and Philip Morris International Inc. in 2012 submitted flawed or incomplete evidence for a consultation for the introduction of standardized packaging for cigarettes, according to a new report released by the University of Bath's Institute for Policy Research.

"Plain packaging is a disproportionate and unjustified attack on smokers, our industry, and the entire tobacco supply chain," said a spokesman for Imperial Tobacco on Monday. "We are a legitimate stakeholder and will continue to express our views."

BAT, Japan Tobacco and Philip Morris didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Institute for Policy Research said the tobacco industry attempted to "delay and derail" the plain-packaging law by using the "better regulation" system, a measure aimed at improving regulation and reducing costs to business by adding more "impact assessments" for new draft legislation.

"Under the guise of supporting evidence-based policy and good governance, the tobacco industry is instead using the opportunities presented by Better Regulation to undermine and derail lifesaving legislation, by misquoting evidence and swamping the policy process with their own misleading research," said Anna Gilmore, the study's principal investigator.

According to Monday's report, there are "serious flaws" in the current better-regulation system—which BAT historically has lobbied for.

The system allowed the tobacco companies to submit consultations on plain packaging, for which they "relied heavily" on industry-commissioned evidence and misquoted evidence supporting the legislation, the report said. It added that the tobacco companies didn't consistently and transparently disclose industry links with the evidence they presented, and failed to include evidence showing the importance of packaging for tobacco products. These steps helped stretch out the policy-making process over three years, during which time the report said it is estimated that more than 500,000 children have started smoking.

The U.K. parliament in March voted to ban branding on cigarette packs as of 2016, which means cigarettes will be sold in uniform packs stripped of distinctive logos and colors—and adorned with graphic health warnings. Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco at the time said they were preparing to sue, while BAT and Philip Morris both filed suits with the High Court in London in May, alleging that plain packaging violates U.K and European law.

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 12, 2015 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024