THE tobacco industry will take its fight over plain packaging to the Federal Court, after a tribunal affirmed the government’s right to withhold the secret legal advice authorising the plan. British American Tobacco has confirmed to The Australian it will appeal against an Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruling refusing the company access to the Keating-era document on the grounds of legal professional and parliamentary privilege. Under th ... Jump to full article >>

SENDAI, Japan—As shops slowly reopen along Japan’s tsunami-hit northeastern coast, many residents still aren’t finding one of the products they crave most: cigarettes. The shortages represent the latest supply-chain breakdown in Japan—and a headache for Japan Tobacco Inc., which for decades has dominated Japan’s tobacco market. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out two of Japan Tobacco’s six cigarette-makin ... Jump to full article >>

CIGARETTE giant British American Tobacco Australia has flagged a massive legal fight against the Gillard government’s plan to bring in plain packaging. BATA says Canberra may have to pay billions of dollars in compensation to cigarette firms if it brings in plain olive green packaging. Health Minister Nicola Roxon will unveil draft legislation this morning requiring tobacco companies to print their brand name in a specific font. She has re ... Jump to full article >>

British American Tobacco Plc (BATS), the maker of Lucky Strikes cigarettes, created a unit that will seek to develop nicotine products for people wanting an alternative to cigarettes as governments aim to reduce smoking. Nicoventures Ltd. plans to develop tobacco-free nicotine products, Kate Matrunola, a spokeswoman for London-based BAT, said today. The unit employs four people and will discuss with regulators what sort of products might work, s ... Jump to full article >>

Tobacco giant British American Tobacco PLC is creating a start-up company to develop nicotine-based products aimed at smokers seeking a safer alternative to cigarettes. The unit, called Nicoventures Ltd., intends to bring to market “innovative, regulatory-approved” products, according to a website for the start-up. The site says the products Nicoventures is looking at aren’t currently available on the market. The U.K. cigarette ... Jump to full article >>

THE marathon Rolah McCabe tobacco lawsuit finally ended in Melbourne yesterday – more than eight years after she died of lung cancer. Lawyers for parties involved in multiple proceedings told Justice Stephen Kaye in the Victorian Supreme Court that they had settled their differences. It is believed that the case that has become a landmark around the world for smokers seeking to sue tobacco companies chewed up tens of millions of dollars in ... Jump to full article >>

Following a key legal triumph in the US, British American Tobacco (BAT) was left high up the top-tier index’s leaderboard last night, advancing 54.5p to 2,462p. The cigarette group made the move after investors awoke yesterday morning to news from across the Atlantic that the company had succeeded in its attempt to be removed from a racketeering ruling. BAT was among a number of groups found in 2006 to have fallen foul of anti-racketeering ... Jump to full article >>

Australia’s Greens will ask lawmakers today to vote to stop the government, which plans some of the world’s toughest anti-smoking laws, from investing in tobacco companies as part of a civil servants’ retirement fund. Greens senator Rachel Siewert will put a motion to the Senate to stop the government’s Future Fund – established in 2006 to cover pension costs of retiring lawmakers, judges and public servants – ... Jump to full article >>

The High Court has banned a New South Wales judge from presiding over future hearings involving British American Tobacco, on grounds of bias. When Justice Jim Curtis presided over a case involving British American Tobacco (BAT) and Brambles in 2006, he found the tobacco giant had secretly destroyed documents that linked its products to lung cancer. After that finding, British American Tobacco wanted Judge Curtis to disqualify himself from hearin ... Jump to full article >>

THE National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has stopped British American Tobacco (BAT) from incinerating over 200 tonnes of tobacco as a measure against releasing more toxic gases into the air. Grace Birikadde, an official from NEMA said, the fire outbreak over the weekend at a warehouse at Kyambogo left residues containing partially burnt tobacco and ashes. He said BAT was proposing to incinerate the residues, but were curtailed since ... Jump to full article >>