UK Court Strikes Down Tobacco Industry Challenge to Plain Packaging
May 19 2016 - 8:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Saabira Chaudhuri
LONDON--A legal challenge by the tobacco industry against plain
packaging in the U.K. has failed, opening the door for cigarette
packs to be stripped of branding across the country and setting a
precedent for other countries in Europe.
Starting Friday, any cigarettes produced for sale in the U.K.
will have to follow plain-packaging rules under which cigarettes
will be sold in uniform packs stripped of distinctive logos and
colors, and adorned with graphic health warnings.
The U.K. parliament in March voted to ban branding on cigarette
packs starting in May 2016. In response, the tobacco industry
mounted a legal challenge, with British American Tobacco PLC,
Imperial Brands PLC, Japan Tobacco International and Philip Morris
International Inc. filing suits with the High Court in London last
summer alleging that plain packaging violates U.K. and European
law.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 19, 2016 08:16 ET (12:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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