Philip Morris International, the world’s largest international tobacco company, has said it could eventually stub out cigarette sales as it launched an alternative product in the UK yesterday.

Illegal cigarettes, either counterfeit or contraband, are as easily available in rural areas of Cork as they are in the city.

In 2015, 16.5% of all cigarettes consumed here arrived through the black market.

Tobacco companies have lost their legal challenge against new cigarette plain-packaging rules in Britain.

Tobacco giants have lost their High Court challenge over the lawfulness of the British Government's new plain packaging rules - the day before they are due to come into force.

New EU rules on tobacco products have been judged to be valid following three separate challenges, paving the way for countries to proceed with standardised packaging.

Ireland is the fourth most regulated ‘nanny state’ in the EU, according to a new report that ranks countries by their policies on eating, smoking, and drinking.

An Oireachtas dommittee wrote to the justice minister in March 2013 highlighting the need to tackle the huge increase in illegal cigarette smuggling.

Cigarettes containing high levels of asbestos, lead, arsenic, traces of rat poison and human excrement are flooding Ireland as dissidents and highly organised crime gangs make vast profits buying them for as little as 20c a packet.

After several days surfing Wall Street’s gut-wrenching swells and troughs, investors got a smoother ride yesterday.

Tobacco conglomerates spent decades challenging the science that proved nicotine was addictive. They dishonestly spent decades rubbishing the science that identified their products as cancerous and the root cause of fatal diseases.

Plain packaging on cigarette boxes will not reduce smoking, despite the Irish Government’s intention to follow the UK’s lead.

No hard retail evidence has emerged in Australia to show that the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes is worth copying by other countries.

We, the Irish Cancer Society, have noted the article ‘Cigarette pack codes to tackle illicit trade’ (Irish Examiner, February 4) and the quote from a representative of Customs ‘welcoming’ the tobacco industry-funded Codentify system.

The tobacco industry is to put special coding on cigarette packets in an effort to cut down on the amount of illegal tobacco smuggled into Ireland — which cost the State an estimated €240m in lost revenue last year.

MEPs have approved sweeping new regulations governing the multibillion-euro tobacco market, including limits on electronic cigarettes, bigger warnings on cigarette packs and a ban on menthol and other flavourings in a bid to further curb smoking.

Kenny and Gilmore tackle ‘must do’ list

The Government has been urged to follow Australia’s example and strip branding from cigarette packs.

Australia’s highest court upheld the world’s toughest law on tobacco promotion today, despite protests from tobacco companies fearing for the value of their trademarks under new rules that will strip all logos from cigarette packs.

US stocks skidded today as a looming election in Greece and the broader debt maelstrom in Europe provided an ominous backdrop.

Cigarette packets in the UK could be stripped of all logos and feature just one huge health warning, according to new plans.

News that European leaders were drawing up a new rescue plan for Greece and taking a broader approach to dealing with Europe’s debt troubles drove markets higher Thursday.

The father of missing Swiss twins wrote a letter saying he had killed them, police say.

The world’s second largest tobacco group today said it sold fewer cigarettes as smokers cut back their consumption in the economic downturn.

R&B sensation Alicia Keys has been forced to apologise to fans in Indonesia after discovering her forthcoming concert in the country was part-sponsored by a cigarette manufacturer.

Stocks rebounded sharply today as investors, growing more optimistic about chances for an interest rate cut, sought bargains after the previous session’s huge tumble.

ALTRIA Group Inc, the world’s largest tobacco company, may announce plans this week to spin off its international unit, bowing to investors who favour faster overseas growth and reduced exposure to smokers’ lawsuits.

Philip Morris USA, the United States’ largest cigarette company, today said it plans to test a smokeless, spitless tobacco product this summer in the Indianapolis market.

The maker of Marlboro cigarettes agreed today to pay up to £670m (€1bn) to help the European Union combat smuggling and fakes, ending years of legal wrangling over an illegal trade that costs both sides hundreds of millions of pounds annually.

Alleged collusion with smugglers will end up costing Philip Morris International a billion dollars (€827m) if the company's payoff offer is accepted by the European Union.

The EU and the maker of Marlboro cigarettes were today close to a $1bn (€833m) deal to end years of legal wrangling by cracking down together on smuggling and fakes that are costing both sides enormous sums.

The European Commission (EC) has confirmed it is in talks with tobacco company Philip Morris International with the objective of securing a substantial payment to avoid lawsuits over allegations it colluded in the smuggling of cigarettes into the EU.