Court challenge to tobacco-advertising ban
The maker of Marlboro cigarettes today mounted a legal challenge to overturn the country’s ban on advertising tobacco products in shops.
Philip Morris Ltd (PML) and Donegal retailer, Maurice Timony, filed a joint lawsuit with the High Court seeking to stop the display ban.
They claim the regulation restricts their ability to provide trade and services, violating Irish constitutional law and EU.
A spokeswoman for Philip Morris confirmed the plenary summons was filed with the High Court in Dublin.
“We cannot speculate about the possible timeframe of the court proceedings,” she added.
Ireland became the first country in Europe to introduce a complete ban on tobacco advertising in shops on July 1.
The Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) said it was a pioneering move aimed at protecting children.
Shop owners caught flouting the new law face a fine of €3,000 or six months in prison.
Maurice Timony, of Timony News in Donegal, said he pays a license fee to the government to sell tobacco products and claims the display ban threatens his business.
PML maintains the legislation hands the tobacco business over to smugglers and counterfeiters.
It said the goal of the lawsuit is to allow retailers to display tobacco products, and not to change the law prohibiting smoking in public places.
The National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) also believes the display ban will significantly grow the amount of illegal smuggled and counterfeit tobacco products.
However Ash Ireland argues advertising and promotion by the tobacco industry is about sales and profit, adding that any attempt to present it as anything else is a massive falsehood.
Earlier today Customs officers revealed almost half a million euro worth of smuggled cigarettes hidden in amplifiers and computers and disguised as medical packaging were seized in Dublin Airport.
The massive haul of more than one million black-market cigarettes was made by customs in three separate seizures at the cargo terminal over the last five days.
