BAT would challenge planned UK plain packs laws

British American Tobacco said yesterday that it would take action against the UK government if it enacted a plan to put cigarettes in standardized packs, according to a story by Martinne Geller for Reuters.

“If the regulations, as published this week, are passed, we anticipate taking legal action,” Jerome Abelman, BAT’s director of corporate and regulatory affairs, was quoted as saying.

“It’s no different than if a newsagent’s stand was taken by the government. This is our property and we don’t think the government is on legal grounds to take the property.”

The UK Department of Health thinks otherwise and intends to defend the policy robustly against any legal challenge. “We would not be proceeding with the policy if we did not believe it to be defensible in the courts,” a department spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Australia, the only country so far to introduce standardized tobacco packs, successfully defended its policy in domestic courts, though it still faces various international trade challenges.

The UK parliament is expected to vote on standardized packs regulations on March 30.