AFTINET welcomes the High Court decision against big tobacco's challenge to plain packaging legislation as a vindication of the Government’s right to regulate tobacco as an addictive substance that still kills 15,000 Australians per year.

But the government still faces two more legal challenges from big tobacco, which is desperate to stop Australia setting an example by implementing the plain packaging recommendations of the World Health Organisation.

The Philip Morris tobacco company is currently suing the Australian government over its tobacco plain packaging legislation, using an obscure 1993 Hong Kong- Australia investment treaty despite being a US-based company. Big tobacco is also reportedly providing legal advice and funding to the Ukraine and Honduras Governments which have launched a complaint in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the grounds that the Australian legislation is contrary to a WTO intellectual property agreement.

Global corporations want to use trade and investment agreements to give them special rights to sue governments if their investments have been ‘harmed’ by a law or policy.

These disputes are heard by international investment tribunals, which give priority to corporate interests.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, US corporations have sued governments for millions of dollars over legitimate health and environmental legislation.

Check out The Dark Side of Investment Agreements video, produced by our friends at the Transnational Institute, to learn more.

On Wednesday 27th June AFTINET held it’s 11th annual Trade Justice Dinner at Sydney's Hellenic Restaurant. The dinner included a raffle with some fantastic prizes and a fiercely contested auction, as well as the Hellenic's fine Greek cuisine, making for a fun-packed evening enjoyed by all and raising over $5,000 in aid of AFTINET's trade justice campaign work. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended and supported the event helping make it such a big success!

Our guest speaker for the evening was Dr. Kyla Tienhaara, discussing “Tobacco giants use of trade agreements to sue governments: The Philip Morris case”, which gave our audience insight into the activities of the corporations using Investor-State Dispute processes to sue governments, something AFTINET actively campaigns against.

Read on for Dr Tienhaara’s full speech.

“We welcome the European Parliament’s overwhelming cross-party decision to reject the ACTA, and hope that similar proposals in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations this week in San Diego will also be rejected,” Dr Patricia Ranald, Convenor of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network said today.

AFTINET Convener, Dr. Patricia Ranald, and Dr. Kyla Tienhaara, Co-director of the Climate and Environmental Governance Network at ANU, were interviewed by Phillip Adams on the ABC Radio National Late Night Live about the Trans-pacific Partnership free trade agreement and Investor-State Dispute Settlements that have led to the current case of tobacco giant Phillip Morris suing the Australian government over plain packaging of cigarettes.

AFTINET welcomes Parliamentary committee rejection of Anti-Counterfeiting Agreement (ACTA) and condemns similar proposals in Trans-Pacific negotiations.

“We welcome the criticism of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, which has today released a report recommending a delay in ratification of the agreement,” Dr Patricia Ranald, Convenor of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network said today.

June, 2012

Australia says no to investor rights to sue in leaked Trans-Pacific trade chapter, fair trade groups demand release of all text

Workers’ rights a glaring omission from new Australia-Malaysia free trade agreement A new free trade agreement with Malaysia is a missed opportunity to advance decent and secure jobs and workers’ rights in our region. Workers’ rights a glaring omission from new Australia-Malaysia free trade agreement

High Jinx at the opening ceremony of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations in Dallas as the good people of Yes Lab helped protesters stage a mock award ceremony, announcing US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, with the "2012 Corporate Power Tool' award!

The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is a proposed new regional free trade agreement which builds on an existing Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand, Chile, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. The negotiations now include the United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam and Malaysia, with several others including Japan expressing interest in joining.