Australia looks at rest of the world for support in tobacco fight

Australia is positive that the world’s most stringent anti-tobacco legislation will soon be approved by the parliament; however the government admitted last week that the anti-tobacco war was not finished and asked other countries to reject a potential World Trade Organization contest supported by tobacco industry.

Nicola Roxon, Australia’s Health Minister admitted the minority government was expecting not only a legal challenge to its move to require cigarettes to be packed in generic packaging starting from 2012, but as well an intellectual property challenge at the WTO. "Tobacco industry can’t file a lawsuit to the WTO on its own, it’s a country which has to do that,” Roxon said. "We believe that big tobacco is currently looking for a state to initiate the dispute on their behalf, so we urge nations to refuse."

The latest legislation, expected to be approved by the parliament in mid October with support from the conservative opposition, is being focus of attention for the European Union, Canada, Britain and New Zealand, which are considering identical laws.  The law has two parts, one of which requires that cigarettes might only be sold in generic green packs and another part limiting presence of tobacco brands’ trademarks.
The landmark bill has infuriated tobacco giants, among which are Philip Morris International, Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco, which have promised to contest the law at the High Court. Tobacco nations, including Nicaragua, Ukraine and Kenya as well declared the legislation infringes global trade regulations.

Despite difficult political situation in Australia related possible compensation claims that tobacco groups have confirmed might reach billions of dollars, Australian Health Minister has been passionately advocating for the legislation within the ruling Labor party, and support of Green and independent MPs. "Major tobacco companies do have wide ties that have support throughout the world. I have told my colleagues across the world that they should consider that initiative from the point of view of health, and trade as well," Roxon said.

Australia believes the new legislation keeps up with its obligations to comply with the World Health Organization Framework Convention against tobacco usage ratified in 2005, which calls for the countries to introduce plain packaging requirements. According to the WTO figures, around 1 billion people across the world are smoke, with 80 percent of them living in poor and developing countries. Industry experts confirm tobacco giants are concerned that plain packaging laws might spread to developing markets, including Brazil and Indonesia, and hamper growth there.

In the UK, tobacco groups have been trying to challenge the law prohibiting sales of cigarettes in vending machines, whereas U.S. cigarette manufacturers are contesting larger graphic health warning labels on cigarette packs, stating they infringe their freedom of commercial speech. Australian tobacco companies earned nearly A$10 billion in 2009, going from A$8.3 billion reported in 2008, despite declining smoking rates. Roughly 22 billion cigarettes are sold in Australia annually.