The World Bank International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) struck down a suit by Philip Morris International (PMI) for damages resulting from the Montevideo government’s anti-control measures, Reuters reported.

Higher taxes, large pictorial health warnings and a ban on smoking in public places were some of the measures for which PMI sought compensation, the news agency said. The cigarette maker was ordered to pay USD 7 million (EUR 6.3 million) and court costs incurred by Uruguay’s government.
“For the last seven years, we have already been complying with the regulations at issue in the case, so today’s outcome doesn’t change the status quo,” PMI said in a statement. “We’ve never questioned Uruguay’s authority to protect public health, and this case wasn’t about broad issues of tobacco policy. The arbitration concerned an important, but unusual, set of facts that called for clarification under international law, which the parties have now received.”