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Tobacco Control and Beyond: The Broader Implications of United States—Clove Cigarettes for Non-Communicable Diseases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2021

Benn McGrady  and
Alexandra Jones
Benn McGrady
Affiliation:
O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20001
Alexandra Jones
Affiliation:
O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
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Extract

As implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) accelerates and states seek to address risk factors for non-communicable disease more broadly, tension has increased between the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and public health. For example, Indonesia recently brought a successful claim against a U.S. law that prohibits cigarettes with a characterizing flavor other than menthol or tobacco. Indonesia succeeded in arguing that the regulation discriminates against clove-flavored cigarettes of Indonesian origin in favor of menthol-flavored cigarettes of U.S. origin.

Also in the WTO context, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Ukraine have challenged an Australian law prohibiting the presence of branding on tobacco packaging other than product and variant names in a standardized location, font size, and style. This regulation, commonly referred to as “plain packaging,” is the first of its kind and may represent a turning point in the regulation of tobacco packaging.

Type
Article
Information
American Journal of Law & Medicine , Volume 39 , Issue 2-3 , June 2013 , pp. 265 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics and Boston University 2013

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References

1 Appellate Body Report, United States—Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes, WT/DS406/AB/R (Apr. 4, 2012).

2 Id. ¶ 298.

3 See, e.g., Request for Consultations by Ukraine, Australia—Certain Measures Concerning Trademarks and Other Plain Packaging Requirements Applicable to Tobacco Products and Packaging, WT/DS434/1 (Aug. 17, 2012).

4 See id.

5 See generally BENN MCGRADY, WORLD HEALTH ORG. [WHO], CONFRONTING THE TOBACCO EPIDEMIC IN A NEW ERA OF TRADE AND INVESTMENT LIBERALIZATION (2012).

6 Request for Arbitration, FTR Holdings S.A. v. Oriental Republic of Uruguay, ICSID Case No. ARB/10/7 (Feb. 19, 2010), http://www.italaw.com/cases/460.

7 Notice of Arbitration, Philip Morris Asia Ltd. v. Australia, UNCITRAL, PCA Case No. 2012-12 (Nov. 21, 2011), http://www.italaw.com/sites/default/files/case-documents/ita0665.pdf.

8 Philip Morris Nor. AS v. Ministry of Health & Care Servs., 10-041388TVI-OTIR/02 (Oslo D. Ct. Sept. 14, 2012) (Nor.).

9 See BENN MCGRADY, TRADE AND PUBLIC HEALTH: THE WTO, TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, AND DIET (2011).

10 Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade art. 2.1-2.2, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1868 U.N.T.S. 120 [hereinafter TBT Agreement].

11 Id.

12 Id. at Annex 1.

13 See Appellate Body Report, European Communities—Measures Affecting Asbestos and Asbestos-Containing Products, ¶ 67, WT/DS135/AB/R (Mar. 12, 2001) [hereinafter Appellate Body Report, EC—Asbestos].

14 See id.

15 TBT Agreement, supra note 10, at art. 1.5.

16 Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1A, 1867 U.N.T.S. 493 [hereinafter SPS Agreement].

17 Id. at Annex A.

18 For a more detailed discussion see MCGRADY, supra note 9, at 175-80.

19 Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages, FDA, http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/ucm190366.htm (last updated Mar. 10, 2011).

20 Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, Note by the Secretariat: Seventeenth Annual Review of the Implementation and Operation of the TBT Agreement, at 24-25, G/TBT/31 (Mar. 2, 2012).

21 TBT notifications with respect to alcoholic beverages actually exceed those for tobacco. To search publicly available notifications, see TBT Information Management, WTO, http://tbtims.wto.org/ (last visited Mar. 15, 2013).

22 This issue is discussed in further detail below within the context of United States—Clove Cigarettes.

23 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 907(a)(1)(A), 123 Stat. 1776, 1799 (2009).

24 Panel Report, United States—Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes, ¶ 3.1, WT/DS406/R (Sept. 2, 2011).

25 TBT Agreement, supra note 10, at art. 2.1.

26 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 54.

27 Id. ¶ 53.

28 Id. ¶ 19.

29 Id.

30 Peter Van den Bossche et al., WTO Rules on Technical Barriers to Trade (Maastrict Faculty of Law, Working Paper No. 2005-6, 2005), available at http://www.worldtradelaw.net/articles/vandenbosschetbt.pdf.

31 See Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 7.230.

32 Id. ¶¶ 7.231-.232.

33 Id. ¶ 7.182.

34 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 120.

35 Id. ¶ 129.

36 Id. ¶ 160.

37 Id. ¶¶ 143-144.

38 Id. ¶ 9.

39 Id. ¶ 192.

40 Id. ¶ 174.

41 Id. ¶ 215; see also id. ¶ 182.

42 Id. ¶ 226.

43 Id. ¶ 224.

44 Id. ¶ 225.

45 Id.

46 See, e.g., Appellate Body Report, supra note 1; Appellate Body Report, United States—Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products, WT/DS381/AB/R (May 16, 2012) [hereinafter United States—Tuna II].

47 See Weihuan Zhou, US—Clove Cigarettes and US—Tuna II (Mexico): Implications for the Role of Regulatory Purpose Under Article III:4 of the GATT, 15 J. INT’L ECON. L. 1075 (2012).

48 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 art. XXII, Apr. 15, 1994, 1867 U.N.T.S. 187 [hereinafter GATT 1994].

49 Id. at art. III.

50 Appellate Body Report, EC—Asbestos, supra note 13, ¶ 117.

51 Appellate Body Report, Dominican Republic—Measures Affecting the Importation and Sale of Cigarettes, ¶ 93, WT/DS302/AB/R (Apr. 25, 2005).

52 Id. ¶¶ 95-96.

53 Id. ¶ 96.

54 GATT 1994, supra note 48, at art. XX(b).

55 Id. at art. XXII.

56 Appellate Body Report, Brazil—Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyres, ¶ 227, WT/DS332/AB/R (Dec. 3, 2007) [hereinafter Brazil—Retreaded Tyres].

57 See generally DiMascio, Nicholas & Pauwelyn, Joost, Non-Discrimination in Trade and Investment Treaties: Worlds Apart or Two Sides of the Same Coin?, 102 AM. J. INT’L L. 48 (2008)Google Scholar.

58 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 96.

59 Id. ¶ 54.

60 Appellate Body Report, United States—Standards for Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline, at 16, WT/DS2/AB/R (Apr. 29, 1996) [hereinafter United States—Gasoline].

61 On this weighing and balancing issue, see Simon Lester, What Aspect of a Measure Should Be Considered Under the GATT Article XX Sub-Paragraphs? Some Criticism, INT’L ECON. L. & POL’Y BLOG (Feb. 24, 2013, 1:23 PM), http://worldtradelaw.typepad.com/ielpblog/2011/06/what-aspect-of-a-measure-should-be-considered-under-the-gatt-article-xx-sub-paragraphs-some-criticis.html.

62 United States—Gasoline, supra note 60, at 22.

63 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 73.

64 Appellate Body Report, Thailand—Customs and Fiscal Measures on Cigarettes from the Philippines, ¶ 177, WT/DS371/AB/R (June 17, 2011).

65 Appellate Body Reports, United States—Certain Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Requirements, ¶ 270, WT/DS384/AB/R, WT/DS386/AB/R (June 29, 2012) [hereinafter United States—COOL].

66 See id.

67 See TBT Agreement, supra note 10.

68 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 98.

69 United States—Tuna II, supra note 46, ¶ 216.

70 See, e.g., Panel Report, European Communities—Measures Affecting Asbestos and Asbestos-Containing Products, ¶¶ 8.187-.193, WT/DS135/R (Sept. 18, 2000) [hereinafter Panel Report, EC—Asbestos].

71 Cf. id.

72 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 67.

73 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶¶ 7.209-.210.

74 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 151.

75 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶ 151 (internal citations omitted).

76 Appellate Body Report, EC Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products (Hormones), ¶¶ 193-194, WT/DS26/AB/R, WT/DS48/AB/R (Jan. 16, 1998) [hereinafter EC—Hormones].

77 United States —Tuna II, supra note 46, ¶ 282.

78 United States—COOL, supra note 65, ¶¶ 347-349.

79 See Appellate Body Report, supra note 1.

80 Id.

81 See Simon Lester, The Clove Cigarette Ban and the Impact of WTO Rules on Government Regulation, INT’L ECON. L. & POL’Y BLOG (Feb. 24, 2013, 1:38 PM), http://worldtradelaw.typepad.com/ielpblog/2009/06/the-clove-cigarette-issue-and-the-impact-of-wto-rules-on-government-regulation.html.

82 See, e.g., 27 C.F.R. §§ 40.21-.32 (2012).

83 Although packaging and labeling measures would fall within the scope of the TBT Agreement, only the GATT 1994 would govern taxes.

84 Directive 2001/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2001, art. 8, 2001 O.J. (L 194) 26, 31.

85 See infra note 92-96 and accompanying text.

86 See, e.g., Flavored Tobacco Product Fact Sheet, FDA, http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/ProtectingKidsfromTobacco/FlavoredTobacco/ucm183198.htm (last updated Dec. 1, 2011).

87 See id.

88 See generally Foulds, Jonathan & Kozlowski, Lynn, Comment, Snus—What Should the Public-Health Response Be?, 369 LANCET 1976 (2007)Google Scholar; Gartner, Coral E. et al., Should the Health Community Promote Smokeless Tobacco (Snus) as a Harm Reduction Measure?, 4 PLOS MED. 1138 (2007).Google Scholar

89 See generally WHO, TECHNICAL REPORT SERIES 955, WHO STUDY GROUP ON TOBACCO PRODUCT REGULATION: REPORT ON THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF TOBACCO PRODUCT REGULATION: THIRD REPORT OF A WHO STUDY GROUP (2009).

90 Brazil, Notification to the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, G/TBT/N/BRA/407 (Dec. 15, 2010).

91 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶¶ 131, 133.

92 Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, Note by the Secretariat: Minutes of the Meeting of 10-11 November 2011, ¶¶ 127-141, G/TBT/M/55 (Feb. 9, 2012).

93 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, ¶¶ 142-143.

94 See supra notes 49-53 and accompanying text.

95 See LAW COMM’N, ALCOHOL IN OUR LIVES: CURBING THE HARM 289 (2010), available at http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/project/review-regulatory-framework-sale-and-supply-liquor/publication/report/2010/alcohol-our-lives.

96 Id.

97 For example, the Systembolaget in Sweden is a government monopoly for sales of everything above 3.5% by volume. See ALKOHOLLAG (Svensk författningssamling [SFS] 1994:1738).

98 See, e.g., Karel Janicek, Czech Republic Alcohol Ban: Country Bans Hard Liquor Sales Amid Wave of Methanol Poisonings, HUFFINGTON POST (Sept. 15, 2012, 2:04 PM), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/15/czech-republic-alcohol-ban-methanol-poisonings_n_1886735.html.

99 The term alcopops describes a class of pre-mixed, sweetened or flavored alcoholic beverages that are typically appealing to youth.

100 Isaac Davison, Liquor Bosses Battle Alcopop Ban, N.Z. HERALD (July 19, 2012), http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world-trade-organisation/news/article.cfm?o_id=251&objectid=10820640.

101 Id.

102 Id.

103 Id.

104 Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages, FDA, http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm190366.htm (last updated Mar. 13, 2013).

105 Fact Sheets: Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages, CDC, http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/cab.htm (last updated July 20, 2010) [hereinafter Fact Sheets].

106 Id.

107 See supra Part II.

108 This view is also supported by disputes such as Appellate Body Report, Chile—Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages, WT/DS87/AB/R, WT/DS110/AB/R (Dec. 13, 1999); Appellate Body Report, Korea—Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages, WT/DS75/AB/R, WT/DS84/AB/R (Jan. 18, 1999); and Appellate Body Report, Japan—Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages, WT/DS8/AB/R, WT/DS10/AB/R, WT/DS11/AB/R (Oct. 4, 1996).

109 Fact Sheets, supra note 105.

110 EC—Hormones, supra note 76, ¶ 182.

111 Id. ¶ 84.

112 See DANISH MINISTRY OF TAXATION, DANISH TAX REFORM 2010, at 11-12 (2009), available at http://www.skm.dk/public/dokumenter/engelsk/Danish%20Tax%20Reform_2010.pdf.; see also Smed, Sinne, Financial Penalties on Foods: The Fat Tax in Denmark, 37 NUTRITION BULL. 142 (2012)Google Scholar.

113 N.Y.C., N.Y., HEALTH CODE § 81.53 (2012).

114 See, e.g., Michael Field, Samoa Rewarded for Turkey Tail Turnaround, STUFF.CO.NZ, http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/6062457/Samoa-rewarded-for-turkey-tail-turnaround (last updated Nov. 31, 2011, 2:12 PM).

115 See supra Part II.

116 SPS Agreement, supra note 16, at art. 5.5.

117 MCGRADY, supra note 9, at 170–214.

118 SPS Agreement, supra note 16.

119 See supra Part III.

120 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 2.1.

121 TBT Agreement, supra note 10, at art. 2.2.

122 See id.

123 Id.

124 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 7.332.

125 Id. ¶ 7.417.

126 See Appellate Body Report, supra note 1, at Annex I.

127 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 7.421.

128 Id. ¶ 7.431.

129 Id. ¶¶ 7.373-.374.

130 Id. ¶ 7.431.

131 Id. ¶ 7.401.

132 Id. ¶ 7.427.

133 See Adopted Guidelines, WHO FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL [FCTC], http://www.who.int/fctc/protocol/guidelines/adopted/en/ (last visited Mar. 17, 2013).

134 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 7.414.

135 See infra Part IV.B.

136 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 7.422.

137 Id. ¶ 7.423.

138 Id. ¶¶ 7.422-.424.

139 Id. ¶ 7.425.

140 See supra Part III.

141 Panel Report, EC—Asbestos, supra note 70, ¶ 8.55 (“We also note that the criteria on the preparation, adoption or application of technical regulations in Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement are very similar to those in Article XX of the GATT 1994. The preamble to the TBT Agreement in fact repeats some of the wording of Article XX of the GATT.”).

142 See, e.g., Appellate Body Report, EC—Asbestos, supra note 13, ¶¶ 156-163.

143 Id. ¶¶ 164-175.

144 Brazil—Retreaded Tyres, supra note 56, ¶ 182.

145 See, e.g., id. ¶ 178.

146 See Panel Report, Canada—Measures Relating to Exports of Wheat and Treatment of Imported Grain, ¶ 6.223, WT/DS276/R (Apr. 6, 2004).

147 GATT 1994, supra note 48, at art. XX.

148 United States—Tuna II, supra note 46; United States—COOL, supra note 65.

149 United States—Tuna II, supra note 46, ¶ 322.

150 United States—COOL, supra note 65, ¶ 461.

151 Id.

152 Id.

153 United States—Tuna II, supra note 46, ¶¶ 315-317.

154 See id. ¶ 317.

155 Id. ¶ 323.

156 United States—COOL, supra note 65, ¶ 471.

157 Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 8.1(b)-(c).

158 Id. ¶ 8.1(c).

159 United States—Tuna II, supra note 46, ¶ 407(b)-(c).

160 See id. ¶ 225.

161 See Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶ 7.260.

162 See, e.g., Brazil—Retreaded Tyres, supra note 56, ¶ 172.

163 See Panel Report, supra note 24, ¶¶ 7.229-.231, 7.414.

164 TBT Agreement, supra note 10, at art. 2.4.

165 See id. at art. 2.5.

166 Id. at Annex 1.

167 See id.

168 Panel Report, United States—Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products, ¶¶ 7.663-.665, WT/DS381/R (Sept. 15, 2011).

169 United States—Tuna II, supra note 46, ¶¶ 357–358.

170 Benn McGrady, US—Tuna: International Standards and Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, TRADE, INVESTMENT & HEALTH BLOG (May 16, 2012), http://www.oneillinstitutetradeblog.org/us-tuna-international-standards-and-plain-packaging-of-tobacco-products/; see also Lukasz Gruszczynski, The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as an International Standard Under the TBT Agreement?, 9 TRANSNAT’L DISP. MGMT., no. 5, Nov. 2012, available at http://www.transnational-dispute-management.com/article.asp?key=1874#citation.

171 Constitution of the World Health Organization art. 2(u), July 22, 1946, 14 U.N.T.S. 185.

172 See WHO FCTC, PARTIAL GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLES 9 AND 10 OF THE WHO FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL (2012).

173 See WHO FCTC, GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 11 OF THE WHO FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL (PACKAGING AND LABELLING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS) (2008); WHO FCTC, GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 13 OF THE WHO FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL (TOBACCO ADVERTISING, PROMOTION AND SPONSORSHIP) (2008).

174 Thailand, Notification to the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade, G/TBT/N/THA/332 (Jan. 21, 2010).

175 These regulations were first approved in the Royal Gazette in 2009. Picture Based Cigarette Warnings: Thai Cigarette Warnings, PHYSICIANS FOR SMOKE-FREE CAN., http://www.smoke-free.ca/warnings/Thailand%20-%20warnings.htm (last visited Jan. 11, 2013).

176 See Thailand, supra note 174.

177 TBT Agreement, supra note 10, at art. 2.9.

178 Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, Note by the Secretariat: Minutes of the Meeting of 20-21 March 2012, ¶¶ 77-79, G/TBT/M/56 (May 16, 2012).

179 Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, Note by the Secretariat: Minutes of the Meeting of 3-4 November 2010, ¶¶ 234-248, G/TBT/M/52 (Mar. 10, 2011).

180 See id.

181 See id. ¶¶ 245-248.

182 See THAKSAPHON THAMARANGSI & AREEKUL PUANGSUWAN, WHY THAILAND SHOULD HAVE THE PICTORIAL WARNING LABEL ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE PACKAGES? 7 (2010), available at http://ihppthaigov.net/publication/attachresearch/257/chapter1.pdf.

183 See id. at 1.

184 Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, supra note 179, ¶¶ 234-248.

185 See Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, Note by the Secretariat: Minutes of the Meeting 24-25 March 2011, ¶¶ 229-230, G/TBT/M/53 (May 26, 2011).

186 See, e.g., Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, Note by the Secretariat: Minutes of the Meeting of 24-25 March 2010, ¶ 5, G/TBT/M/50 (May 28, 2010).

187 Comm. on Technical Barriers to Trade, supra note 179, ¶ 248.

188 See, e.g., Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products, AUSTL. GOV't DEP't OF HEALTH & AGEING, http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/tobacco-plain (last updated Mar. 15, 2012).

189 See, e.g., Robin Room, EU and Alcohol Policies Internationally, ADDICTION & LIFESTYLES IN CONTEMP. EUR. REFRAMING ADDICTIONS PROJECT (Apr. 20, 2012, 9:04 AM), http://www.alicerap.eu/blog/59-eu-and-alcohol-policies-internationally.html.

190 WHO, GLOBAL STRATEGY TO REDUCE THE HARMFUL USE OF ALCOHOL (2010), available at http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/alcstratenglishfinal.pdf.

191 Id. at 6-7.

192 See MCGRADY, supra note 9, at 175-80.

193 Id. at 202.

194 See, e.g., id. at 183-94.

195 Appellate Body Report, supra note 1.

196 Hudec, Robert E., GATT/WTO Constraints on National Regulation: Requiem for an “Aim and Effects” Test, 32 INT'L LAW. 619 (1998)Google Scholar.

197 GATT 1994, supra note 48, at art. XX.