弁護士谷直樹/医療事件のみを取り扱う法律事務所のブログ

欧州司法裁判所がタバコ包装表示ルールについてタバコ会社に不利な判断を下す見込み

bloombergは,2015年12月23日,「Big Tobacco Risks EU Court Defeat Over Tough Packaging Rules」で,以下のとおり伝えました.

「Tobacco companies including Philip Morris International Inc. and British American Tobacco Plc received a blow from an adviser to the European Union’s top court in their battle against EU orders to cover cigarette packs with graphic pictures and warning signs.

The 2014 EU rules help boost the visibility of health warnings and maximize their effectiveness, Advocate General Juliane Kokott of the EU Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion Wednesday.

“The coolness or the fun factor” and “the curiosity that may be inherent in new or unusual packaging then has a lesser influence on the decision to purchase,” she said.

Wednesday’s opinion stems from a U.K. court case where judges last year asked their EU peers whether the European rules are valid. Philip Morris, BAT, Imperial Tobacco Group Plc and Japan Tobacco Inc., who control almost all of the 18.7 billion-pound ($27.8 billion) U.K. market earlier this month went to court again, this time claiming British measures violate the companies’ intellectual property rights.

Kokott said EU nations are free to take the rules a step further on packaging standards, such as requiring plain cigarette packs, with no logos.

“It’s a blow for the tobacco companies but it isn’t a massive surprise given that the EU wrote the law," Duncan Fox, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said by phone. If the top court upholds the rules, “it gives a nice get-out clause for European countries that want to implement plain packaging.”
(以下略)」

タバコのパッケージデザインは,巧みなロゴとデザインの視覚的効果で販売促進に寄与してきました.
警告表示が義務付けられ,有害性と依存性の表示がなされるようになり,警告表示と正反対のロゴとデザインに違和感が生じています.
そこで,タバコの箱にはロゴなしの単純な商品名を書くのみで,警告表示以外は何もないプレーンなものに規制することも検討されています.
このようなタバコの箱の表示の規制について,規制を推進する国と表現の自由を主張するタバコ会社との法的争いは,欧州司法裁判所で規制にお墨付きが与えられることになりそうです.
そもそも,タバコは,できれば無いほうがよい商品で,積極的に販売すべきものではありません.販売促進に寄与するデザインは規制すべきと考えます.


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by medical-law | 2015-12-27 19:01 | タバコ