About

Wholly owned by the British American Tobacco Group, BAT France employs more than 350 people to support the sale and distribution of the Group’s tobacco products. In such a highly regulated industry, the legal team, which is headed by director of public affairs, legal affairs and communication Eric Sensi-Minautier, is constantly active in dealing with a number of legal issues. As a recent example of the department’s impact, the business-orientated team seamlessly implemented a group-wide decision, which saw legal and external affairs merged together to form the “LEX department”. This merged department also includes senior legal manager Delphine Piotraut, who joined in 2016, and specialist legal counsel Marine Saiman who returned to BAT France after a spell at Accenture. During her first stint at BAT, between 2014 and 2015, Saiman was heavily involved in the business’ transition following the adoption of a European Directive. During that same period she also set-up the internal processes for the company’s whistleblowing and dawn raids procedures. Talented in a number of complex areas, upon re-joining the company Saiman was actively mobilised for a data protection and security internal audit in November 2016. Piotraut has been recognised for her work in the renegotiation of the company’s biggest agreement to date for a four year period. Meanwhile, Sensi-Minautier has been strongly engaged in major tax issues. With France’s strict advertising laws on tobacco, the legal team is also distinguished for making ‘a tangible impact in Q3-Q4 2016 further to major legislative and regulatory changes to assist… the business in this new framework’. The team is also commended for its skill in handling matters relating to the Evin Law, European competition laws and meeting France’s pricing laws relating to tobacco products and manufacturers. The team’s most significant recent work includes legal actions in plain packaging cases and the integration of and compliance with the price list homologation process. In honouring BAT France’s membership to the UNIFAB (Union of Manufacturers) and National Anti-Counterfeiting Committee (NACC), the team also play an important role in taking up anti-counterfeiting measures and combatting illicit tobacco trade in the country. Sensi-Minautier is quoted as saying, ‘at BAT France, we want to strengthen the means made available to customs and the police. There is an urgent need to ensure the effective application of the penalties provided for by law’.