Tobacco Companies Challenge Point of Sale Regulations

Six tobacco companies, including members of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA), today applied to the High Court for Judicial Review of the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Point of Sale) Regulations 2004, which were laid before Parliament on the 18th March 2004.

The companies claim that the Regulations prevent any form of meaningful or effective communication with adult smokers and will not allow smokers to receive a reasonable level of information about the products before they buy.

Tim Lord, chief executive of the TMA, said: “We consider that the Regulations are disproportionate and illegal. They contain unreasonable restrictions on providing information at the point of sale and will inhibit competition. Regrettably, our attempts to resolve the matter through dialogue with the Department of Health have come to nothing, so we have no option but to resort to legal action.”

The companies participating in the legal action are:

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (UK) LIMITED
GALLAHER LIMITED
IMPERIAL TOBACCO LIMITED
PHILIP MORRIS LIMITED
SOCIÉTÉ NATIONALE D’EXPLOITATION INDUSTRIELLE DES TABAC ET ALLUMETTES (“SEITA”)
CHERWELL TOBACCO LIMITED

Notes:

1. The Regulations restrict advertising of tobacco products at point of sale to one advertisement per retail outlet that does not exceed the size of an A5 sheet of paper, of which 30 per cent must be a health warning surrounded by a black border of between 3 mm and 4 mm. The advertisement would have to be attached to a gantry or other fixed display unit. The restrictions apply regardless of how many gantries or display units are located on the premises. There are also substantial limitations on content of the advertisement.

2. The main grounds of the companies’ legal challenge are that the regulations violate their freedom of commercial speech by virtue of the restrictions imposed and create obstacles to trade between Member States because in practice they will favour UK producers and incumbent UK and international brands.

3. British American Tobacco (UK) Limited, Gallaher Limited and Imperial Tobacco Limited are principal members of the TMA. Philip Morris Limited is an associate member of the TMA.

4. SEITA is a large manufacturer of tobacco products in Member States such as France and Spain whose products are sold in the UK.

5. Cherwell Tobacco is the second largest vending machine operator in the UK. The strict regulations on point of sale will affect vending machines.