Trans-Pacific Partnership

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.

“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.

June, 2012

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