The Dominican Republic requests WTO panel concerning plain packaging for tobacco products
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Geneva, 13 November 2012 - On 9 November 2012, the Dominican Republic requested
the establishment of a panel under the dispute settlement procedures of the
World Trade Organization ("WTO") challenging Australia's plain packaging
measures for tobacco products. The Dominican Republic has asked that this
request be included on the agenda of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body meeting on
17 December 2012.
From 1 December 2012, Australia will mandate that all tobacco products be sold
in plain packaging. Packaging will be a standardized drab brown colour, with
the brand and variant name in a standardized font and place, banning all logos
or other design features. This move will prevent tobacco products from using
their well-known trademarks and geographical indications.
These unprecedented measures will undermine the Dominican Republic's tobacco
industry, in particular its premium cigar sector. By prescribing standardized
plain packaging, the tobacco market will be driven towards commoditization, with
declining prices, and increasing - rather than falling - consumption and illicit
trade.
The Dominican Republic supports Australia's health objectives. However, plain
packaging will undermine those health objectives, failing to curb consumption,
while destroying the market for Dominican producers. Australia's plain
packaging measures do not, therefore, withstand scrutiny under the WTO Agreement
on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).
HE Luis Manuel Piantini, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the WTO,
explains: "Tobacco has been an intrinsic part of the Dominican culture and
heritage for centuries, and the tobacco sector is vital for our development.
Our producers have made enormous investments - including in intellectual
property - to turn the Dominican Republic from a simple tobacco leaf exporter
into one of the world's leading producers of premium cigars and the world's
largest exporter of cigars. This a significant achievement for a small
developing economy. Plain packaging will wipe away these achievements - our
premium cigars will be dressed as discount products, which people will continue
to smoke; prices will ultimately fall, affecting the livelihood of more than a
hundred thousand Dominican workers and their families. The TRIPS and TBT
agreements protect our commercial and development achievements."
ENDS
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Datum: 13.11.2012 - 09:05 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 202525
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