BRITISH American Tobacco, the world’s second-biggest cigarette company, will lobby the European Union to overturn a ban on snus, a smokeless form of tobacco, as it launches trials in Sweden and South Africa.

The maker of Kent and Pall Mall cigarettes will argue that snus, which is consumed predominantly in Sweden, should be legalised in Europe because it is less harmful than cigarettes.

An overturn of the 13-year-old ban would be seen as a victory for the tobacco industry, whose operations are increasingly hampered by bans on smoking in public places as well as product advertising and marketing.

BAT has informed the British Government of its ambitions to launch snus in Europe.

Snus, which is wrapped into small sachets of tobacco that are placed under the lip, is legal in Sweden, because of an EU exemption. Up to 20 per cent of the adult population consumes a total of 200 million cans a year.

BAT yesterday launched a snus sales trial in Sweden — where the market is dominated by another company, Swedish Match — and in South Africa where the London company has a 91 per cent share of the cigarette market. BAT is using the Lucky Strike and Peter Stuyvesant brands but is barred from advertising its new product. In the first few hours of trading across 241 outlets in Johannesburg, BAT sold more than 50 snus cans.

The EU outlawed snus in 1992 as part of a wider ban on smokeless tobacco products, arguing that they could appeal to underage smokers.

Chris Proctor, BAT’s head of science and regulation, said yesterday that the company had received some support from the public health community and would lobby the EU once it had data from the South African and Swedish trials.

Dr Proctor said that evidence in Sweden suggested that snus was a pathway away from, and not a gateway to, smoking. Sweden also had the lowest incidence of lung cancer deaths among men and one of the lowest rates of male oral cancer mortality.

BAT’s plans have incensed sections of the UK public health lobby, which has called for the Government to establish a firm regulatory framework for all tobacco products. At present, tobacco regulation falls between the Revenue & Customs and the health departments. Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), the anti-smoking lobby,said that it would oppose lifting the EU ban. An ASH spokesman said: “They [BAT] wouldn’t use it to cut the number of smokers. It’s like saying ‘let’s have a heroin replacement product’.”

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