The world's second-biggest tobacco firm claimed that the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), agreed at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, would "limit its ability to tell consumers about potentially reduced-risk products, which, over time, it aspires to develop".
While BAT has yet to unveil any such products in the UK, subsidiary Brown & Williamson has tested reduced-risk cigarettes in the US.
The FCTC was boosted by the US delegation's decision to withdraw opposition to the treaty, although the Bush government has yet to grant it statutory authority.
Despite the treaty's ratification, the industry gained some consolation last week when a Miami appeals court overturned a $145bn (£88.5bn) lawsuit against the country's five biggest tobacco firms.
It was the latest in a series of cases brought by smokers with illnesses. The decision prompted a surge in the share prices of the major players.
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