No legal issue with tobacco packaging - charity

The tobacco industry had claimed they would be owed billions of pounds in compensation if the plain packaging was to come into use.

However Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) released a legal opinion which states the legislation would be compatible with European law.

The charity has said that under current EU laws the Government is free to regulate the packaging of tobacco products beyond what the EU suggests.

Professor Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of Law at HEC Paris and Global Clinical Professor at NYU School of Law, said: “The UK government enjoys considerable freedom of action in regulating the presentation of tobacco products, particularly given the overwhelming evidence of the harm that tobacco consumption causes.

“For these reasons, we believe that any challenge by the tobacco industry against standardised packaging under European law is unlikely to succeed.”

The legislation, which was debated by MPs on yesterday, would follow Australia, who began using plain packaging in 2012.

ASH chief director Deborah Arnott has said she is confident that MPs will vote in favour of the plain packaging this week.

“The legal opinion we are publishing today blows out of the water the ludicrous and unjustified claims by the tobacco industry that it would be due billions of pounds in compensation if the UK proceeds with standardised packaging,” she added.

Ireland recently became the first country in Europe to use the plain packaging, with Finland and France also suggesting they would follow suit.