British American Tobacco's legal bid goes up in smoke

3.26.01pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 5th Nov 2004

The decision by the High Court today to throw out a legal challenge to the 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, which seeks to restrict advertising of tobacco products at the point of sale, has been welcomed by Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Liz Lynne.

British American Tobacco along with other tobacco companies tried to argue that the law breached Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees personal and commercial freedom.

In his judgement Mr Justice McCombe said that given the substantial expert opinion as to the effects of advertising on smokers the law was a 'responsible and proportional step'.

Speaking following today's ruling Liz Lynne MEP said:

"Tobacco is one of the leading preventable causes of death and disability among adults in Europe and I therefore welcome the decision by the High Court today.

"The European Parliament has been at the forefront of forcing tobacco companies to produce better health warnings and from next month these warnings will have to occupy at least 30% of the packet.

"It is of course right that Adults should be free to smoke in private, but Government health policy should aim to make sure that people are well informed about possible dangers from all drugs, and tobacco is the biggest killer of all.

ENDS

Notes To Editors

Liz has long campaigned for better and bigger advertising of the dangers of smoking. She recently hosted a press conference in Brussels to officially launch two new reports, drawn up by the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP) on the effects of smoking in EU countries.

The 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act only applies to point of sale advertising. From December health warnings must make up 30% of the surface area of a packet of cigarettes, only A5 size adverts will be permitted per shop establishment and all other types of advertising will be banned.