WTO Disputes Settlement Body Hears Australia's Plain Packaging Laws
Friday 9 May 2014 @ 9.57 a.m. | IP & Media | Legal Research
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) established two separate panels arising from its hearing on 25 April 2014 of the specific complaints raised by Cuba and the Dominican Republic regarding Australia's plain packaging tobacco laws and their impact on the rules of global commerce.
Background to the Dispute
As TimeBase has previously reported (see related articles links below), Indonesia, Ukraine, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Cuba have all initiated disputes in the WTO against Australia and are at various stages of the process. The disputes have been dragging on for some time, with the first dispute having been filed two years ago.
Along with fellow plaintiff Honduras, Cuba and the Dominican Republic say that by covering all tobacco products, not just cigarettes, the legislation harms their traditional cigar brands. Indonesia and Ukraine are both leading raw tobacco and cigarette exporters, and agree with the other plaintiffs that Australia's laws breach the rules of global commerce and international trade rules.
The five countries argue that the law breaches international trade rules and the intellectual property rights of brands - a stance rejected by Australia's government and which also failed to convince the country's high court in a case brought by tobacco firms.
It is only with the specific panel hearings requested separately by both Cuba and the Dominican Republic, heard on 25 April 2014, that progress has been made on any of the applications.
Current Progress and Panel Establishment
The Dominican Republic requested for the second time the establishment of a panel to examine this dispute. The Dominican Republic was of the view that Australia’s plain packaging measures failed to have the desired health effects and were detrimental to the Dominican Republic’s tobacco industry. In addition, it said that plain packaging was inconsistent with Australia’s obligations under the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement and the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreements.
In a separate dispute on the same subject, originated by a complaint from Cuba, Cuba expressed its view that Australia’s plain packaging measures are inconsistent with Australia’s obligations under the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreements and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. Consultations were held on 13 June 2013 but failed to resolve the dispute, hence Cuba’s request for the establishment of a panel. In the interests of ensuring a harmonised panel process, Australia accepted Cuba’s first request for a panel. Australia welcomed Cuba’s efforts to ensure that the five disputes regarding Australia’s tobacco plain packaging were managed in the most efficient manner possible. Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic shared Cuba’s concerns regarding the inconsistency of Australia’s plain packaging measures.
The Dispute Settlements Board established 2 separate panels to examine the issues raised by both the Dominican Republic and Cuba on 25 April 2014. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, the Dominican Republic, the European Union, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, Uruguay and Zimbabwe reserved their third-party rights to participate in the panel’s proceedings.
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