Philip Morris v. Public Health Agency of Sweden

Philip Morris appealed the Public Health Agency of Sweden's determination that HEETS (heated tobacco sticks or inserts) were tobacco products for smoking and should not be categorized as smokeless tobacco products under the European Union Tobacco Products Directive and Swedish Law. Also, the agency banned and ordered the recall of HEETS with packaging containing the health warning "[t]his product is harmful to health and is addictive" from the market.

The Administrative Court held that a determining factor as to whether a product is a smokeless tobacco product is whether the product is consumed by combustion and undertook a review of the primary combustion requirements. Ultimately, the Administrative Court found that HEETS were not consumed by combustion because there was no evidence of exothermic oxidation. The court concluded that the evidence showed HEETS could be consumed without oxidation, a main element of combustion. Therefore, the court concluded that HEETS are smokeless tobacco products.

Philip Morris v. Public Health Agency of Sweden, Case no. 3803-22, Administrative Court of Stockholm (2022).

  • Sweden
  • Sep 26, 2022
  • Administrative Court of Stockholm
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Parties

Plaintiff Philip Morris Products S.A.

Defendant Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten)

Legislation Cited

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

"The IMM report states that exothermic oxidation is very likely to occur in the consumption of HEETS. However, no technical support for this assumption is presented in the report. As explained above, a condition for combustion, according to all definitions available in the case, is that it is an exothermic process. In the absence of support for the assessment that consumption of HEETS involves an exothermic process, and with comprehensive evidence supporting the fact that it is an endothermic process that is not dependent on oxygen, the Administrative Court considers it established that HEETS is not consumed through combustion. HEETS is therefore rightly a smokeless tobacco product."