Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consideration he gave to owners and other beneficiaries of intellectual property rights relating to tobacco products in deciding to bring forward legislative proposals for standardised packaging.

The Government has given careful consideration to all of the wider aspects that relate to standardised packaging of tobacco, including intellectual property rights.

The Government has also published an impact assessment, assessing the costs and benefits of the policy. This can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/standardised-packaging-of-tobacco-products-draft-regulations