The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge from major tobacco companies to the Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that they place graphic health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements, reported CNN.

The FDA issued a rule in 2020 that will require health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements, occupying the top 50% of the area on the front and back panels of packages and at least 20% of the area at the top of cigarette ads, according to the FDA.

“A federal judge in Texas initially sided with the [tobacco] companies and wiped away the rule. But the conservative-leaning 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision and ruled in favor of the FDA,” wrote CNN.

The appeals court said in a unanimous ruling issued in March that the rule “passes constitutional muster” under a decades-old Supreme Court standard that allows the government to compel commercial speech so long as the speech is “purely factual,” “uncontroversial,” “justified by a legitimate state interest” and “not unduly burdensome.”

Lawyers for the tobacco companies told the justices in court papers that the warnings required by the rule “are unprecedented in American history” and warned that if the appeals court ruling is allowed to stand, it would give the government permission to require similar warnings on a range of products “in order to bully consumers into not using them.”

They also argued that the warning illustrations “are designed to shock rather than inform, because the massive and inflammatory graphics go far beyond what would be necessary to communicate a simple factual message.”

“The FDA argued that the pictures reflected the undisputed risks of smoking, depicting a ‘factually accurate, common visual representation of the health condition and shows the disease state as it is typically experienced,’” reported The Hill.

Earlier this year, NACS Daily reported that the FDA announced that it is providing guidance on its enforcement policy for the “Tobacco Products; Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements” final rule.

FDA stated that the agency intends to exercise enforcement discretion and generally not enforce requirements of the final rule until December 12, 2025.

NACS members may be required to comply with the Cigarette Warning Label regulation. If a retailer generates its own advertisements for cigarettes, then the retailer must submit a Cigarette Plan to the FDA no later than February 10, 2025. NACS members can Download the full compliance guide for the regulation.