Tobacco and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The inclusion of tobacco control in the Sustainable Development Goals has been in the works for several years. It is due to various advocacy efforts of the Framework Convention Alliance and the support of NGO partners and allied missions in New York and
Delegates attending trans-Pacific free-trade negotiations in the United States are being warned their countries could end up like Australia if they agree to allow corporations to sue governments in international courts. Australia is fending off a challenge to its plain cigarette packets legislation from Philip Morris International under the terms
At yesterday’s TransPacific Partnership stakeholder event – a bit of political theater set up by the United States Trade Representative to demonstrate the “transparency” of the highly-secretive negotiations – negotiators from other countries eagerly sought us out to hear about how tobacco regulation is threatened by trade law. ASH’s Chris
A handful of business representatives that are closely following the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations have taken new jobs over the last few months. Linda Menghetti, an expert on investment issues who formerly served as vice president of the Emergency Committee for American Trade, left that position at the end of
ISDS stands for Investor State Dispute Settlement. I know, spelling it out doesn’t help comprehension much. It is a term of art for trade law policy wonks. Unlike most unnecessarily long bits of lingo, this one is dangerous, especially for tobacco control. The United States is insisting that it be
IT’S easy to laugh at Big Tobacco. Fresh from defeat in Australia’s High Court, it has taken its fight against plain cigarette packets to New Zealand where British American Tobacco warns such legislation could expose the nation to legal challenges (no kidding), and to Hong Kong where Philip Morris moved
Two state governments have called on the USTR to carve tobacco out of the TransPacific Partnership Agreement over well-grounded concerns that their own state and local tobacco control initiatives will be threatened by international trade tribunals. Maine and Vermont, both leaders among U.S. states in protecting their people’s health, sent
(Sept. 6-15, 2012/Leesburg, VA) The next negotiating round of the Trans- Pacific Partnership will take place in Leesburg, Virginia from September 6-15, 2012. USTR will be hosting a Direct Stakeholder Engagement event on Sunday, September 9, 2012. ASH urges the United States Trade Representative to submit its draft tobacco exception
BIG tobacco has opened a new front in its war against Australia’s plain packaging law. The World Trade Organisation has revealed that within hours of the government’s victory in the High Court, Ukraine upgraded to formal a complaint against Australia’s law and demanded the establishment of a disputes panel. Australia
The United States did not table its tobacco exception at the latest round of TransPacific Partnership negotiations. The issue apparently did not come up during the closed-door sessions, although it was a central concern of NGOs during the one-hour stakeholder briefing with the chief negotiators. The next round is scheduled
Canada and Mexico are set to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement talks. They have agreed to accept any provisions that have been agreed before they join, in spite of the fact that they are not allowed to see the text. In essence, this is like signing a legal contract without
(July 2-10, 2012 / San Diego, Calif. ) The most recent negotiating round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership took place in San Diego, California from July 2-10, 2012. Chris Bostic ASH Deputy Director for Policy will be there presenting to trade negotiators and other key allies on the necessity of a
(NZ Week / June 15, 2012) “US plans to table a specific exception of tobacco contradict the government’s reassurances that a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement would not restrict New Zealand’s right to introduce plain packaging or other tobacco control laws”, according to University of Auckland Law Professor Jane Kelsey. “If the
(WebProNews.com / May 8, 2012) With all the recent talk about CISPA and ACTA, it seems like we’ve been forgetting about our old friend TTP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership. For those who need a recap, TPP is essentially ACTA for the U.S. and Pacific nations. The only key difference is that
(Wall Street Journal / May 7, 2012) The president wants other countries to embrace free trade, while defending tariffs for domestic textiles. Trade officials from nine dynamic Asia-Pacific economies begin 10 days of talks today in Dallas, Texas, hoping to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact by the end of this
(Huffington Post) Next week in Dallas, negotiations for what’s likely to be the largest Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in U.S. history will continue in near total secrecy, despite growing demands for an open process. The darkness surrounding the talks isn’t surprising, considering the American public’s increasing disapproval of FTAs and
(Dominion Post) New Zealand has not signed any free trade agreement that will stop plans to sell cigarettes in plain packaging, Prime Minister John Key says. That’s despite threats by a consortium of American organisations who issued a statement over the weekend claiming tobacco firms’ logos and branding were protected
(Jakarta Globe) Last year, Indonesia’s clove cigarettes made headlines internationally. In an unprecedented move, Indonesia challenged superpower trading partner the United States at the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body over the US Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. That law effectively banned the circulation and import of Indonesian
(Dec. 5, 2011) The Green Party is calling on the Government to reject attempts to introduce investor-state disputes mechanisms into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade negotiations in light of evidence that the Philip Morris tobacco company is planning to use the TPP to block anti-smoking laws. “Most New Zealanders will
