The National Alliance of Small Merchants (ANPEC) says 27 class action lawsuits have been filed across the country, representing more than 500 small businesses, challenging the federal government’s anti-tobacco regulations that came into effect at the end of January.
The collective amparos (injunctions) take aim at the law that now prohibits cigarette packs to be displayed to customers at their point of sale, and be kept hidden from public view.
In a press release, ANPEC, which has more than 225,000 members, called the law change “a nonsensical commercial ban that uses the argument that displaying (cigarettes) is an act of publicity. That is clearly wrong.”
Added the trade association: “It opens the doors to a dark stage in which the state stands as the holy inquisition that, under a discretionary whim, can determine what may or may not be displayed for sale at various businesses.”
ANPEC said the law affects two million self-employed small business owners in Mexico, many of whom could see their monthly income fall by as much as 25 percent.
An “unfortunate consequence” of the regulation, ANPEC said, will be an escalation in black market sales of cigarettes.