© ROBIN UTRECHT
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Philip Morris has been criminally convicted in Belgium for systematically violating the ban on tobacco advertising. The ruling is final and concerns infringements throughout Belgium, including through illegal sponsorship deals that the world’s largest tobacco manufacturer concluded with shops. That writes De Tijd on Saturday.
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Source: BELGIAN
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The public prosecutor in Belgium prosecuted Philip Morris Benelux before the criminal court because numerous inspections revealed that the manufacturer of the cigarette brands Marlboro and L&M violates the legal ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in all kinds of ways. Health inspectors gathered evidence of breaches at dozens of establishments across the country. This ranges from a distributor in Wijnegem in Antwerp, a tobacconist in Adinkerke in West Flanders, gas stations in Anderlecht and Vorst, a supermarket in Huy (Liège province), a newsagent in Bree in Limburg, to a grocery store in Châtelineau (Hainaut province).
According to De Tijd, the criminal case was never known before. Philip Morris Benelux, which has its headquarters in Antwerp, went to the Court of Cassation to avoid a conviction. But after convictions in first instance and on appeal, Philip Morris took a stand at Cassation, making the conviction final.
One of the malpractices for which the tobacco giant has been convicted are commercial agreements that he made with shops in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia at least until the end of 2017. The merchants got money and other benefits if they gave Philip Morris tobacco products more visibility by displaying them in a “very thoughtful and sophisticated way”. The more they sold, the more rewards they got. Those confidential deals were illegal sponsorship, according to the judge.
The spokesman of Philip Morris Benelux, Kobe Verheyen, says in De Tijd that the company has not yet received the judgment of Cassation. “Although it only concerns the settlement of old cases, we are disappointed that the Court apparently did not listen to our argument.”
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