Philip Morris Sues Australia Over Cigarette Packaging Laws

Tobacco giant Philip Morris isn't one to dawdle. As soon as Australia's controversial mandatory "plain packaging" for cigarette brands (examples above) were passed on Nov. 21st, Morris launched a multi-billion-dollar legal action against the Federal Government. 

The country's Health Minister Nicola Roxon called it a "great day for Australia," while Philip Morris Asia (which oversees its brands sales in Australia) announced it would fight tooth and nail to challenge the laws both domestically and internationally.

“We are left with no option," said Philip Morris Asia spokesperson Anne Edwards in a press release. "The Government has passed this legislation despite being unable to demonstrate that it will be effective at reducing smoking and has ignored the widespread concerns raised in Australia and internationally regarding the serious legal issues associated with plain packaging.”

The press release added that "PMA is seeking suspension of the legislation and substantial compensation for the loss of the company’s valuable trademarks and investments in Australia that will result from plain packaging. The company expects damages to amount to billions of dollars and that the legal process will take 2 to 3 years. “We are confident that our legal arguments are very strong and that we will ultimately win this case."

Cigarette packaging changes are a hot topic worldwide. Americans, for instance, won’t be seeing pictures of dead bodies or diseased lungs on their cigarette packs any day soon, thanks to a Nov. 7th ruling by federal Judge Richard Leon, who blocked the Food and Drug Administration from requiring the graphic new labels.

Each year, about six million people across the globe die because of smoking, the World Health Organization estimates. “More than six hundred thousand of them are non-smokers who breathe other people's tobacco smoke,” Voice of America reports. 

Many countries are trying various ways to cut down on their own number of smokers, but the legal arms of the tobacco industry are also keeping busy, trying to keep laws from passing that could restrict sales. 

“In Australia, tobacco companies want to stop what would be the world's most restrictive laws on cigarette advertising,” VOA noted before the Morris suit. The change there would allow cigarettes to be sold in plain olive-green packages with the brand name and health warnings serving as the only text. Gone would be iconic pack designs of iconic cigarette brands, including Camel, Marlboro, or Australia’s favorite brand, Winfield. 

Australia's laws don't go into effect until December of 2012, but “tobacco companies say the legislation violates the Australian constitution” and “would unjustly reduce the value of their brand names and trademarks.”

The Australian government, of course, fully expected it wouldn’t claim the victory without a fight from Big Tobacco.

"Every time a smoker — twenty or thirty times a day — takes a cigarette pack out of their pocket, we want to make sure that all that it's showing is the harm that can be caused from tobacco,” said Australia’s Health Minister Nicola Roxon. “This law will be a big win for families who have lost a loved one to tobacco-related illness."