Norway court upholds ban on tobacco store displays
by Julia Gronnevet

The Associated Press    Translate This Article
14 September 2012

OSLO, Norway (AP) - A Norwegian court has upheld a ban on the display of tobacco products in stores, handing a defeat Friday to the Philip Morris company.

Norway, which has had a ban on cigarette and alcohol advertising since 1975, in 2010 banned even the display of tobacco products at their point of sale. Shops must keep cigarettes in unmarked cabinets or special vending machines with no visible logos. Customers wishing to buy tobacco must actively ask merchants for it.

Philip Morris sued the Norwegian state, arguing that the display ban interfered with the free flow of goods and broke with international agreements Norway is party to.

But the Oslo district court said it concluded that 'the display ban is necessary and that there aren't other, less invasive methods which could give similar results.'

Philip Morris has one month to decide whether to challenge the ruling in a higher court.

'We are disappointed with the court's decision and are considering our options for appeal,' said Nordan Helland, spokesman for Philip Morris Norway.

Tobacco companies worldwide have long used legal avenues to challenge government laws on cigarette taxes, smoking bans, marketing restrictions and health warnings.

Most notably, Australia's highest court last month rejected a challenge by tobacco companies who argued the value of their trademarks will be destroyed if they are no longer able to display their distinctive colors, brand designs and logos on packs of cigarettes.

Philip Morris International in recent years also has filed lawsuits challenging marketing restrictions and health warnings in Uruguay and a ban on tobacco products in shops in Ireland. Those challenges are ongoing.

Anti-smoking campaigners welcomed the ruling in Oslo.

'This verdict sends a signal that it's possible to win over the mighty tobacco industry,' said Karl Erik Lund, research director at the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, who testified as an expert witness for the state.

___

AP Tobacco Writer Michael Felberbaum in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Every day Global Good News documents the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the world from good news reported by the press; and highlights the need for introducing Natural Law based—Total Knowledge based—programmes to bring the support of Nature to every individual, raise the quality of life of every society, and create a lasting state of world peace.



Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google) Select a language English to Afrikaans English to Albanian English to Arabic English to Belarusian English to Bulgarian English to Catalan English to Chinese (Simplified) English to Chinese (Traditional) English to Croatian English to Czech English to Danish English to Dutch English to Estonian English to Filipino English to Finnish English to French English to Galician English to German English to Greek English to Hebrew English to Hindi English to Hungarian English to Icelandic English to Indonesian English to Irish English to Italian English to Japanese English to Korean English to Latvian English to Lithuanian English to Macedonian English to Malay English to Maltese English to Norwegian English to Persian English to Polish English to Portuguese English to Romanian English to Russian English to Serbian English to Slovak English to Slovenian English to Spanish English to Swahili English to Swedish English to Thai English to Turkish English to Ukrainian English to Vietnamese English to Welsh English to Yiddish

(Altavista babelfish) Select a languageEnglish to Chinese-simpEnglish to Chinese-tradEnglish to DutchEnglish to PortugueseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to GermanEnglish to GreekEnglish to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to KoreanEnglish to RussianEnglish to Spanish

Send Good News to Global Good News.

Your comments.