About

Lorenzo Fronteddu is the most senior lawyer in charge of a small team of professionals serving Japan Tobacco International’s Italian subsidiary, which has recently had to face a fresh challenge in the form of the new tobacco products directive, which Fronteddu states has ‘hugely changed the regulatory environment’ in the industry. The influence the department has not only within JTI but in the tobacco industry in general illustrated by Fronteddu: ‘in the tobacco business the legal advice has always had a great impact, all business decisions are validated via legal before being implemented’ and JT International in Italy is no different. Tackling the often thorny issue of the controversy tobacco companies sometimes court: ‘We always try to not just do things right but to do the right thing. Being in the tobacco business can be quite controversial so we need to not only to understand what the law allows us to do, but to look at that in a wider context’. Representing the interests of the company in discussions with external parties, the team recently worked with regulators to ‘develop proposals of implementation as well as proposing interpretation on those aspects not clearly covered by the law’, showing their willingness to take part in industry discussions. Fronteddu is a member of the executive committee and reports to the general manager, and the knowledge of the legal team was indispensable in the launch of a new electronic cigarette product, a first for JTI in Italy.