UNITED KINGDOM: E-Cig TPD Challenge Goes Forward

Source from:  TJI 10/09/2014

A court has granted e-cigarette maker Totally Wicked the right to challenge the EU Tobacco Products Directive before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the company said.

Totally Wicked said it would ask the court in Luxembourg to rule on the lawfulness of Article 20 of the newly revised Directive, which regulates e-cigarettes for the first time. The article would regulate e-cigarettes more strictly than some tobacco products, the company said. Free movement of goods and provision of services would be impinged.

A hearing before the EU court should take place next year, Totally Wicked said. The path was cleared in a preliminary ruling by the Royal Courts of Justice that requested CJEU to determine whether Article 20 represents a breach of EU law, the e-cigarette company said.