The U.K. High Court has dismissed a legal challenge against tobacco plain packaging, clearing the way for the new rules to be introduced on Friday, reports the BBC.
The case was brought by Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International.
The companies claimed the Standardized Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 would destroy their valuable intellectual property rights and render products indistinguishable from each other.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt had contested the case, saying the regulations for standardized packaging were lawful.
Under the new regulations, all tobacco packaging must be uniformly olive green and with large images intended to act as health warnings.
The firms challenged the rules on a number of grounds, including a claim that the regulations violated a number of U.K. and EU laws, and that they were “disproportionate.”
JTI and BAT say they intend to appeal against the High Court’s ruling.
“We will continue to challenge the legality of plain packaging,” Daniel Sciamma, U.K. managing director of JTI, was quoted as saying. “The fact remains that our branding has been eradicated and we maintain that this is unlawful.”
Marc Firestone, senior vice president of Philip Morris International, said his company did not intend to appeal.
“We will instead maintain our focus on efforts to develop and commercialize scientifically substantiated reduced-risk products that we firmly believe will ultimately benefit U.K. smokers and public health much more than plain packaging.”
Simon Clark, director of smokers’ group Forest, said the judgment was “very disappointing.”
He added: “Plain packaging treats adults like children and teenagers like idiots.
“If you don’t smoke but enjoy alcohol, sugary drinks and convenience food you should be concerned by this judgment because the health police are coming for you too.”
Wells Fargo Securities described the ruling as “negative headline but manageable risk.”
“While we continue to view this development as a manageable risk for the industry given Australia’s experience to date with plain packaging, which has been in effect since December 2012 and has failed to show much success at dramatically reducing overall smoking rates, we believe the likelihood that other EU countries follow down the same path as the U.K. has realistically increased,” Wells Fargo senior analyst Bonnie Herzog wrote in an analysis of the ruling.
“Further, it appears the industry’s legal options have diminished. While it’s still a bit early to gauge the ultimate impact on underlying consumption, we continue to believe the enforcement of plain packaging could pose a long-term risk to the industry, possibly leading to an inadvertent increase in illicit trade activity and consumer downtrading to nonpremium brands accelerates.”