European Union

Planta Tabak, a Berlin-based tobacco company that primarily manufactures and markets flavored roll-your-own tobacco, challenged provisions of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (Directive 2014/40/EU) that prohibit characterizing flavors in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco and prohibit packaging from alluding to flavors, among others. The plaintiffs sought a declaration that these provisions were not applicable to its products and alleged that they violated the principles of legal certainty, equal treatment, and proportionality. Planta Tabak objected to the fact that manufacturers of flavored tobacco products with an EU-wide sales volume of 3% or more in a particular product category were given until May 2020 to comply with the ban on flavorings, while manufacturers of flavored products with a smaller sales volume must comply as of May 2016.

The Court held that flavored tobacco products were particularly attractive to young people and facilitate the initiation of tobacco consumption. While the Court admitted that the ban was a restriction on the EU's free movement of goods, "it was justified by the balancing of its economic consequences against the requirement to ensure a high level of protection of human health." Further, the Court found that the difference in treatment of products based on sales volume was intended to give consumers adequate time to switch to other products and was, therefore, objectively justified. The Court also upheld the ban on any indication of flavor on the product packaging and labeling.

The case now reverts to Berlin's administrative court, where Planta Tabak filed its initial challenge.