The judge in a U.S. racketeering case has ordered tobacco companies to stop marketing cigarettes using terms like "low tar" and "light" -- not just in the United States but overseas as well -- the Associated Press reported March 17.

Judge Gladys Kessler rejected a bid by defendant Philip Morris USA to continuing using the terms when selling cigarettes internationally. Kessler said that her prohibition on "implied health messages" applied to both domestic and international tobacco operations.

Kessler ruled last summer that the tobacco industry violated U.S. racketeering laws and intentionally lied to the public about the dangers of smoking. Kessler said it made no sense "to tell the rest of the world that 'low tar/light' cigarettes are less harmful to health when they are prohibited from making such fraudulent representations to the American public."

Tobacco firms said that the ruling infringed on the rights of other countries to regulate cigarette sales and said they would appeal.