The Conservative Party has reiterated its plans to forge ahead with plain cigarette packaging legislation as well as promoting “clear food information”.
In a section on health in its new manifesto, the party states: “We are helping people to stay healthy by ending the open display of tobacco in shops, introducing plain-packaged cigarettes and funding local authority public health budgets.”
Prime Minister David Cameron was among those who voted for standardised packaging which gained a yes vote form the House of Commons in March..
Food labelling was also covered in the manifesto, as it was in Labour’s the previous day. The Tories said: “We will take action to reduce childhood obesity and continue to promote clear food information.”
Meanwhile, in Ireland where new plain packaging rule come into force next month, a distributor of a number of tobacco brands has argued before the Commercial Court that Ireland cannot unilaterally introduce plain packaging as it is a member of the EU,.
JTI Ireland claims such a move would be contrary to EU harmonisation and would hamper trade between member states.
Legal action is also being taken by tobacco companies in the US. The nation’s largest tobacco firms are suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over recent guidelines that they claim overstep the agency’s authority over packaging for cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Units of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Altria Group and Lorillard Tobacco filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming the FDA’s guidance infringes on commercial speech.
The FDA gained authority to regulate tobacco in 2009, including the power to review new tobacco products before they can be sold if they significantly differ from available products.
The agency issued guidelines on how manufacturers can determine if their products require FDA review. However, the tobacco makers allege that the FDA is asserting overly broad authority to review labeling and packaging.
