We spoke to you about it yesterday morning, seized of several appeals against the packs of neutral cigarettes, which will be generalized on January 1, 2017, the highest administrative court was to rule this Friday, December 23. The Council of State finally decided to reject the appeals against the provisions relating to the neutral packet of cigarettes.
WHAT HAPPENED EXACTLY?
Two decrees of 21 March 2016 and 11 August 2016 as well as two bylaws of 21 March 2016 and 22 August 2016 have specified the terms of introduction of the neutral package of cigarettes, provided by the 26 January 2016 law of modernization of our health system. Several companies manufacturing or marketing tobacco products in France as well as the National Confederation of tobacconists of France have asked the Council of State the cancellation of these various texts.
THE COUNCIL OF STATE REJECTS THE APPEALS!
Article L.3512-20 of the Public Health Code, resulting from the article 27 of the 26 January 2016 law of modernization of our health system, provided that packaging units, outer packagings and overpacks cigarettes and rolling tobacco, cigarette paper and cigarette rolling paper are neutral and standardized. The Government has specified the terms of application of these provisions relating to the neutral package of cigarettes by two decrees of 21 March 2016 and 11 August 2016 as well as by two decrees of 21 March 2016 and 22 August 2016.
Several companies manufacturing or marketing tobacco products in France as well as the National Confederation of tobacconists of France have asked the Council of State the cancellation of these decrees and orders.
By today's decision, the Council of State rejects these appeals.
The applicants criticized in particular the prohibition on manufacturers affixing the figurative or semi-figurative marks which they hold on packaging units, outer packaging and overpacks of tobacco products.
The Conseil d'État points out that this prohibition does not extend to registered trademarks and the associated trade name, which enables buyers to identify with certainty the products concerned. It also notes that, while this prohibition constitutes a limitation on the right of ownership in that it regulates the use of trademarks, such a limitation is proportionate to the public health objective pursued by the introduction of the neutral package.
For the same reasons, the Conseil d'État considers that the national regulation relating to the neutral package of cigarettes, which constitutes a quantitative restriction on the importation of goods, is in conformity with European Union law, which authorizes the setting up of such restrictions where justified by a public health and life-protection objective.
The Council of State also rejects all the other criticisms made by the applicants. He therefore rejected the appeals before him.
Source : Conseil-etat.fr/
