Big Tobacco Challenges Rules

Tobacco firms have won the right to challenge new European Union rules on cigarette packaging.

Philip Morris, BAT and Imperial Tobacco were among firms joining forces to attack the legality of the EU's Tobacco Products Directive.

The new rules mean picture health rulings would have to cover 65% of the front and back of cigarette packaging.

Europe's highest court will be asked to rule whether the EU has misused its powers to legislate for tobacco, and whether its actions are "proportionate".

The court must decide if the new directive complies with European guarantees on fundamental rights and the principle of "subsidiarity" - whether decisions should be taken on a national or regional level rather than by the EU.

The tobacco companies went to court in England because it provides a "fast and efficient forum for private litigants" to reach the European courts, they said.

The EU says the new rules will "deter young people from experimenting with, and becoming addicted to, tobacco".

But Philip Morris senior vice president Marc Firestone said the directive "raises serious questions" about the free movement of goods and competition within the EU.

"We believe the directive disrupts the balance that the EU treaties establish between the Union and the member states, and we are looking forward to a thorough, objective review by the EU's highest court," he said.

Mr Firestone said there was no disagreement that tobacco products should be strictly regulated, "but measures must honor the EU treaties".

Tobacco is a plant within the genus Nicotiana of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. 

While there are more than 70 species of tobacco, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. 

The more potent species N. rustica is also widely used around the world.

Dried tobacco leaves are mainly smoked in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and flavored shisha tobacco. 

They are also consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco and dipping tobacco.

Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, a stimulant.

Tobacco use is a risk factor for many diseases, especially those affecting the heart, liver, lungs, and several cancers.

In 2008 the World Health Organization (WHO) named tobacco as the world's single greatest cause of preventable death.