FILE PHOTO: Cigarettes are seen during the manufacturing process in the British American Tobacco Cigarette Factory in Bayreuth, southern Germany, April 30, 2014. Picture taken April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo
Since last year, the companies have refused to receive subpoenas delivered to their local subsidiaries in the lawsuit brought the Brazilian solicitor general’s office. But the federal judge hearing the case in Porto Alegre, Graziela Bündchen, ruled on Tuesday that the companies are the operational wings of the parent companies and fully capable of relaying the notifications to their head offices. She gave them 30 days to present their defenses.
The landmark lawsuit was filed by the AGU in May against the two multinational companies seeking to recover the public health costs for the treatment of 26 tobacco-related diseases over the previous five years.