Emerging threats to public health from regional trade agreements

Other such disputes include investor-state actions by tobacco companies against Uruguay and Norway and challenges within the dispute mechanisms of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) brought against both the USA and Australia by other countries.5,6 Through the ISDS mechanism, Philip Morris Asia is seeking the suspension of enforcement of Australia's plain packaging legislation, or millions of dollars in compensation on the grounds that the value of its investment has been affected by the supposed expropriation of its trademarks and related branding.7 Australia, however, has a strong case, in part because Philip Morris Asia acquired its holdings in Philip Morris Australia in February, 2011, after the Australian Government had announced its intention to introduce plain packaging.8 But the costs of such litigation can amount to millions of dollars, the ISDS process is without many of the safeguards and the transparency of domestic legal systems, and the mere threat of legal action can have a powerful deterrent effect on governments considering the introduction of new laws to regulate industry in ways that protect public health.3 On a global scale, the most recent trade-related threat comes from the negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), a large regional trade agreement consisting of 11 countries around the Pacific Rim--Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, USA, and Vietnam.