[Intl-tobacco] Tobacco Companies File Lawsuit Against Federal Labelling Law (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

Tobacco Companies File Lawsuit Against Federal Labelling Law
Source: Vancouver Sun, Friday, 7/7/00

 MONTREAL (CP) - Three tobacco companies, led by Imperial Tobacco, filed a
lawsuit Thursday that aims to strike down new federal legislation
requiring larger health warnings on cigarette packages.

 The lawsuit, filed in Quebec Superior Court, asks for an immediate halt
to the law's requirement that the warnings be big enough to cover half of
a cigarette package.  Imperial was joined in the suit by JTI-Macdonald
Corp. and Rothmans, Benson and Hedges Inc.

 Imperial, Canada's largest manufacturer of tobacco, contends the
labelling law is unconstitutional because it infringes on the
corporation's freedom of expression.

"These packages belong to us," said Michel Descoteaux, an Imperial Tobacco
spokesman.

"We believe that for the government to come and seize 50 per cent of the
package for their own purposes is an expropriation of our trademarks and
of our packages."

He said the firm, whose brands include Du Maurier and Players, doesn't
object to warning labels but requiring half the package to contain health
messages is excessive.

The suit says the government has not produced any credible evidence that
large warning notices would lead to a reduction in the number of Canadians
who smoke.

Rothmans, Benson and Hedges is Canada's second-largest cigarette company
and is owned 60 per cent by Canada's Rothman Inc. with the remainder held
by Philip Morris Cos. Inc., the biggest cigarette manufacturer in the
United States.

JTI-Macdonald holds the No. 3 spot in Canada and is owned by Japan Tobacco
Inc.

Garfield Mahood, executive director of the Non-Smokers Rights'
Association, argued the lawsuit suggests the industry is hypocritical
about tobacco's health dangers.

"We're obviously very critical of the industry for attempting to deny to
customers the real risk of its products," he said in an interview from
Ottawa.

Mahood said it was only days ago that tobacco firms told a Senate
committee "they'd made mistakes and said they wanted to work with the
government to keep kids away from their products."

But Imperial Tobacco said the labelling requirements make a mockery of a
1995 Supreme Court of Canada decision which struck down sections of the
Tobacco Products Control Act as illegal.

That decision under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came only
after five years of court proceedings.

The firm said it's "unfair to again violate its rights until the
constitutional fate of this new similar legislation is decided."

The Imperial Tobacco lawsuit comes less than a week after U.S. District
Court Judge Thomas McAvoy threw out Canada's court action against
U.S.-based RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., five related companies and the
Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Council.

The Canadian government's $1 billion US suit claimed the tobacco firms had
been involved in racketeering and fraud but McAvoy dismissed the case last
Friday before it could even go to trial.

The judge agreed with the defendants who cited the rule that U.S. courts
cannot enforce tax laws of foreign nations.

Ottawa says it was defrauded of more than $1 billion US between 1991 and
1994 in foregone taxes, duties and other revenue.