The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as an International Standard Under the TBT Agreement?

Abstract

In this article Lukasz Gruszczynski argues that there are good grounds for considering the Guidelines to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (‘FCTC’) relevant international standards under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (‘TBT Agreement’). The structure of the article is as follows: Part I provides an overview of the relevant sections of the TBT Agreement and its ambiguities with respect to defining an international standard; Part II sets out the aims, purpose and governance structure of the FCTC; In light of the overviews of the TBT Agreement and the FCTC, Part III then considers whether the FCTC and its Guidelines are likely to satisfy criteria developed by relevant World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) jurisprudence regarding what constitutes an international standard under the TBT Agreement; and, finally Part IV draws out the significance of having the FCTC/Guidelines recognised as an international standard under the TBT Agreement.

Keywords: tobacco control, FCTC, TBT agreement, WTO

JEL Classification: K32, K33