An EU method for testing how much tar, nicotine and other chemicals are emitted by cigarettes has never been formally published in the European rule book and so it is up to local courts what to do with it, the European Court of Justice has decided. The case stems from a complaint made by anti-smoking groups in the Netherlands, who had asked judges in Rotterdam in 2018 to ban the technique because it provided inaccurate information about what smokers were actually inhaling. Wanda de Kanter , a lung specialist and chairwoman of the campaign group Rookpreventie Jeugd, said the European court ruling cleared the way to change the measuring system.