House of Lords gives plain packaging the green light

The House of Lords, the upper house of the UK parliament, has passed legislation that introduces plain packaging for tobacco products.

Law makers in the House of Commons had previously approved the bill. It was passed in the Lords on March 16 without any amendments.

From 2016, cigarettes sold in England will be required to have ‘dull brown’ packaging. The name of the brand will be in a standardised typeface.

The law will not apply to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Before it becomes an act of parliament, the bill requires Royal Assent, but this is seen as a formality.

A group of tobacco companies has vowed to challenge the validity of the law. Shortly after the Commons voted in favour of the bill on March 11, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Imperial Tobacco Group vowed to take legal action against the government.

The threatened challenge followed a similar legal threat issued by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) Ireland to the Irish government after it passed similar legislation at the beginning of March.

JTI Ireland claimed that the law is not valid until the Court of Justice of the European Union hears a challenge from Philip Morris against the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

The directive was adopted in April 2014 and allows EU member states to introduce plain packaging legislation for cigarettes in “duly justified circumstances”.