Australia’s Move to the Plain Packaging of Cigarettes and its WTO Compatibility

Asian Journal of WTO & International Health Law and Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 405-426, September 2010

21 Pages Posted: 12 May 2011

Date Written: September 30, 2010

Abstract

Tobacco companies have expressed concern that Australia’s plain cigarette packaging initiative breaches international trade obligations. This article begins by providing a background to cigarette packaging. It then examines developments worldwide and in Australia that have led to this initiative, and finally examines the claim of cigarette companies that the move is incompatible with the TRIPS Agreement. It concludes that the general move towards plain packaging in Australia and elsewhere falls within the scope of permissible regulation under Article 20 of the TRIPS Agreement and that concerns about plain packaging violating the TRIPS Agreement should not prevent WTO Members from placing plain packaging firmly on the public health agenda.

Keywords: World Trade Organization (WTO), Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), Encumbrance, The Paris Convention, Trademarks, Public Health, Tobacco Control, Plain Packaging

Suggested Citation

Mitchell, Andrew D., Australia’s Move to the Plain Packaging of Cigarettes and its WTO Compatibility (September 30, 2010). Asian Journal of WTO & International Health Law and Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 405-426, September 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1729483

Andrew D. Mitchell (Contact Author)

Faculty of Law, Monash University ( email )

Wellington Road
Clayton, Victoria 3800
Australia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
461
Abstract Views
3,212
Rank
114,610
PlumX Metrics