the tobacco company Philip Morris Mexico You will be able to import and market electronic cigarettes and any other similar device in our country, thanks to the fact that you obtained an injunction declaring the president’s decree unconstitutional Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with which -from May 31, 2022- the sale of vaping devices and electronic cigarettes was prohibited.
As happened in December of last year with the Sanborns chain of stores, owned by the Mexican magnate Carlos Slim, Philip Morris ultimately obtained the protection of federal justice, so the presidential decree cannot be applied to the tobacco company, while the government can no longer challenge the ruling.
The Twenty-second Collegiate Court in Administrative Matters of Mexico City agreed with Philip Morris in an Amparo under Review, considering that the prohibition of vapers and their refills violates the freedom of trade contemplated in article 5 of the Constitution , found HIGH LEVEL when consulting the file.
Last week, President López Obrador criticized the Court’s decision, and announced that he would challenge it, however, that is no longer possible, because with this ruling the amparo granted to the tobacco company by a District Court in Administrative Matters was reviewed, which implies that the judgment of the Collegiate is final, since there is no longer any other recourse that could be exercised against the Review.
In this sense, this Tuesday the Fourteenth District Court in Administrative Matters of Mexico City issued an order in which it notifies the parties of the Court’s decision, detailing that first, “the appealed sentence is confirmed”, and secondly that the justice of the Union protects and protects” Philip Morris “regarding the claimed decree.”
In this way, the decree of the president that since May 2022 prohibited the commercialization of vapers, as well as recharging solutions, may not be applied neither in the present nor in the future to the company producing cigarettes, which also has a line of electronic cigarettes.
As happened with Sanborns, in this case both the District Court and the Collegiate Court considered that López Obrador’s decree violates the human right to freedom of trade, which is unconstitutional.
The anti-smoking strategy of the federal government was expressed with the president’s decree with an absolute prohibition of any commercial activity that is carried out with vapers and electronic cigarettes, despite the fact that these may or may not contain nicotine.
This implies an excessive measure that harms the legal sphere of companies, from the fact that -for example- ordinary cigarettes that contain nicotine and affect health are allowed.
In the amparo claim that was finally granted, Philip Morris argued that the presidential decree violates articles 5, 49, 73, section X; 89, Section I; and 131 of the Constitution.
In these numerals, in addition to contemplating the freedom of business and trade, the division of Powers, the powers of Congress and the president, and the way in which he can regulate the imports of any product are established.
The effects of this amparo only benefit the tobacco consortium, in addition to there is already a previous sentence in the same sense of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, which was issued in October 2021, before the decree that absolutely prohibited vapers.
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surya palaces Journalist and lawyer, specialist in legal analysis and human rights. She has been a reporter, radio host and editor.