Six US business groups sent a letter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny asking the prime minister to reconsider the Cabinet decision in May to pursue plain packaging for tobacco products, the Irish Times reported.

Plain packaging destroys trademark protection and branding, and will increase illicit trade in tobacco products, the letter reportedly states. Signatories are the US Chamber of Commerce, Emergency Committee for American Trade, National Association of Manufacturers, US Council for International Business, National Foreign Trade Council and Transatlantic Business Council, the newspaper said. “A false and damaging choice is being presented when effective alternatives exist,” the letter reportedly states.