Philip Morris set to appeal against Lithuanian ban on advertising IQOS

A Philip Morris subsidiary has been fined for breaking Lithuanian tobacco advertising laws with a campaign for IQOS, in a decision that may have implications for wider European heated-tobacco promotion.

The Lithuanian Drug, Tobacco and Alcohol Control Department (NTAKD) decided Philip Morris Baltic had broken the Law on Control of Tobacco when advertising its heated tobacco device in the country. The company faces a fine of €2100 but is expected to appeal.

The regulator confirmed that in its view the IQOS device was subject to the same advertising restrictions as those imposed on traditional tobacco products. Jurgis Kazlauskas, head of the NTAKD’s tobacco and alcohol control department, told local media that “in promoting the device IQOS users have in fact been misled”.