Plain packs challenge faltering

A battle that has been waged in the UK against the government’s standardized tobacco-packaging legislation has suffered a reverse after a second manufacturer dropped plans to take its case to the Supreme Court, according to a story by Jillian Ambrose for the Electronic Telegraph.

The decision by Imperial leaves two of the big four tobacco companies still considering whether to take the government to the Supreme Court over the regulations, which came into force in May.

Since then, manufacturers have been required to produce all their cigarettes in standardised packaging, and, from May 2017, all tobacco products sold in the UK must comply with the regulations.

Imperial joins Philip Morris International in accepting the tobacco branding crackdown after a failed court challenge in May and an unsuccessful appeal last month.

A spokesman for Imperial was said to have told the Sunday Telegraph: “We maintain our firmly held view that plain packaging is not an effective tobacco control policy but we have chosen not to seek permission to escalate our legal challenge in the UK to the Supreme Court”.

British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International are expected to decide soon whether to continue to fight the regulations.

The full story is at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/12/17/imperial-stubs-plans-supreme-court-battle-tobacco-packaging/