Tobacco firm JTI Ireland has initiated its legal challenge against the Irish government over planned plain packaging legislation, in the Commercial Court.
The Court heard a motion in relation to the legal challenge on Monday, and following this, the tobacco manufacturer said in a statement, ‘In our challenge, we will be asking the Court to confirm that, under EU law, Ireland cannot enact or commence plain packaging legislation’.
According to JTI Ireland general manager Igor Dzaja (pictured), “The outcome of a case currently being considered by the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in relation to the EU Tobacco Products Directive will be critically relevant to the entitlement of all of the EU Member States, including Ireland, to legislate for plain packaging.
“We believe that it is unlawful for any EU Member State to proceed with plain packaging legislation. We previously asked the Irish Government to await this critical CJEU decision, expected to be delivered in early 2016, before they proceeded with plain packaging legislation.”
JTI added that it believes the plain packaging legislation to be ‘unlawful’, saying it “would infringe important principles of law, and other fundamental rights – including trade mark rights – and go against obligations under WTO (World Trade Organization) rules.”
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
