Kenya
Cigarette maker British American Tobacco (BAT) has challenged a directive by the Kenyan ministry of health banning it from putting brand names or trademarks on cigarette packages and wrappers. The new Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 (TCR) requires cigarette packages to carry health warnings and pictograms on the front and back respectively. In an application filed at the high court yesterday, BAT asserts the order is unconstitutional.
The regulations were published by the ministry last year and are expected to come into force on June 5. A pictogram is required to be printed in full color, contrasting with the background to ensure noticeability and the health warning messages must be printed in black and white. According to the regulations, tobacco manufacturers and importers will have to pay a levy of 2% of the value of tobacco products manufactured or imported annually into a compensatory contribution fund.
In its suit BAT says the health warning in the regulations are wide and vague. They say the rules constitute an unnecessary and unjustifiable limitation and threat to BAT’s right to benefit from its intellectual property. BAT says the cost of complying with the new regulations is enormous and places players in the tobacco industry at risk of shutting down. It wants the court to find the TCR 2014 null and void. The manufacturers say the regulations will have a huge impact on the petitioners’ business and tobacco industry as a whole unless the enforcement is stopped by court.