Appeals Tribunal redirects rigged cigarette case again to EU Court

6 November 2023

The legal battle over the rigged cigarette is not over yet. The Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal once again refers the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. The Tribunal reopens the investigation in this case and will ask new preliminary questions to the European Court. This means that a final judgment will have to wait another one to two years.

“It is a great pity that the Appeals Tribunal has not dared to settle the case now on the basis of the EU Court’s previous ruling,” reacts pulmonologist Wanda de Kanter, chairman of Youth Smoking Prevention, the foundation that, together with the municipality of Amsterdam and 14 health organizations took this case to court in 2019. “In 2016, tobacco industry’s whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand showed us how the measurements of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide remain within legal standards thanks to tiny holes in the cigarette filters. But when smokers close those holes with their mouth and fingers, they suddenly ingest much more of it, making cigarettes more toxic and addictive than allowed. In our opinion, and also according to the Rotterdam court, the European Court of Justice very clearly wanted to put an end to this. It is disappointing that the Tribunal has not yet been able to reach a decision. It means that smokers will again be exposed to more poison and nicotine than the law allows for a long time.”

Parties are given one month to respond

The parties to the proceedings, namely Youth Smoking Prevention, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority/Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Philip Morris International, Japan Tobacco International, British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands and trade association VSK, will now first be given four weeks to submit their views on the questions that the Tribunal has proposed to submit to the European Court of Justice.

For more details and backgrounds on this case, go to the dedicated page on this case.

ISO-method | European Court | lawsuit | rigged cigarette | Canadian Intense | Jeffrey Wigand