Two of the world’s largest tobacco companies have filed lawsuits against the UK Government, arguing that its plan for plain packaging to be used on all tobacco products is illegal.
British American Tobacco (BAT) and Philip Morris International (PMI) have claimed that the new packaging rules are illegal because they remove the possibility of using their unique trademarks.
Both companies have also argued that EU law would be broken if they, or any other company, were to use its trademark in Europe but not in the UK.
A spokesperson for BAT said: “Legal action is not something we wanted to have to consider and is not something we undertake lightly, but the UK Government has left us with no other choice.
“Any business that has property taken away from it by the state would inevitably want to challenge and seek compensation.”
Both tobacco firms have filed their legal objections against the Government’s plans at the High Court in London and, if successful, they could expect to secure billions of pounds in pay-outs.
However, a similar lawsuit, which was recently filed against packaging legislation in Australia, was unsuccessful.
The measures for ensuring that all tobacco products are sold in plain packaging are expected to be introduced in 2016, with a full roll-out to take place by 2017.
Responding to news of the lawsuits, the Department of Health issued a statement that said it refused to be “held to ransom by the tobacco industry”.
Following the example of BAT and PMI, other tobacco firms, including Japan Tobacco International (JTI) – owner of the Winston, Camel and Benson & Hedges brands – also intend to take the UK Government to court.