Russian consumer rights oversight agency to fight tobacco firms in court
Issue:
October 2008, Vol.3, No. 9
The ‘allergy’ of the Russian consumer rights oversight agency (Rospotrebnadzor) for the actions of tobacco corporations and their lobbyists, directed at drawing more Russians to smoking through the “younger-the-better” marketing strategy is known to everyone. The confrontation between the two parties exacerbated in September, when Rospotrebnadzor Director Gennady Onishchenko filed a legal suit, petitioning the court to declare the actions of British American Tobacco (BAT) and its marketing arm International Tobacco Marketing Services illegal. According to Onishchenko, the suit stemmed from the defendants’ failure to provide full and authentic information about their products, a practice that violates the Russian legislation. Specifically, the annotation “light” on cigarettes, according to the local Advertisement Law, is misleading as the carcinogenicity of cigarettes, according to experts, is not less than that of traditional cigarettes. “These gentlemen see Russia as a sort of uncivilized market, where to offload products, which apart from not meeting the European quality standards, are also outright toxic to humans.” However, BAT has said it will defend its reputation in court.
Web design,