Tobacco ad restriction challenged

Promotion is extremely restricted

Tobacco companies have launched a High Court challenge to strict restrictions on advertising at the point of sale.

The regulations, contained in the 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, limit the size and location of promotional material in retail outlets.

But the manufacturers say they are an unlawful interference with their commercial freedom of speech under human rights laws.

Health Secretary John Reid is resisting their application for judicial review.

David Pannick QC, for the tobacco companies, argued the limits were so draconian that they amounted to an effective ban on informing consumers about products which were legally on sale.

Manufacturers say the permitted size is so small, and location so restricted, that advertisements cannot effectively be used by more than one brand at a time.

Mr Pannick told Mr Justice McCombe said his clients did not dispute that smoking could damage health.

But he said the limits were disproportionate to the government's aim of promoting public health.

Too blunt

The court challenge is being brought by BAT, Imperial Tobacco, Gallaher, Philip Morris, and French manufacturer Societe Nationale D'Exploitation Industrielle des Tabacs et Allumettes (Seita) along with vending machine operator Cherwell Tobacco.

The claimants argued that the regulations prevented them from informing consumers of the characteristics of their products so that new brands could not be established in the market.

The regulations were "too blunt an instrument", Mr Pannick said, because they failed to distinguish between different outlets - for instance, a local convenience store and a nightclub.

They also discriminated against foreign manufacturers who would find it impossible to maintain their market share without point-of-sale advertising.

Mr Pannick claimed the Health Secretary made the regulations without properly assessing whether less severe restrictions would be sufficient to achieve the objective of protecting children.