[CTC] Sinaltrainal Letter to Obama/Santos regarding LAP, Summit and FTA

[Gimena Sanchez]

WTO Panel Upholds Ruling That US Ban On Clove Cigarettes Is  
Discriminatory
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120404-709787.html
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A World Trade Organization appeals panel  
Wednesday upheld an earlier decision that the U.S. ban on clove  
cigarettes discriminates against Indonesia, in a blow to the Obama  
administration's efforts to prevent youth from smoking.

Taking issue with the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco  
Control Act giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate  
the tobacco industry, the ruling found that the law violated global  
trade rules by banning the production and sale of cigarettes with  
cloves and many other flavors but not menthol.

The appeals panel said the design and application of the law "strongly  
suggest that the detrimental impact on competitive opportunities for  
clove cigarettes reflects discrimination against the group of like  
products imported from Indonesia."

Indonesia, the world's leading producer of clove cigarettes,  
challenged the law in 2010, arguing that it unfairly favors U.S.-based  
menthol cigarette makers. An earlier WTO decision agreed with  
Indonesia on the discrimination charge, while acknowledging that the  
law's aim of discouraging young people from smoking was legitimate.

Some consumer groups have expressed concern that a WTO ruling against  
the law could undermine U.S. health policy. However, a group of former  
U.S. Health Department heads and Surgeons General have argued that  
banning menthol cigarettes would both resolve the trade dispute and  
benefit public health.



Honduras joins WTO complaint on Australia tobacco packaging
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/04/wto-australia-tobacco-idUSL6E8F4BQC20120404

(Reuters) - Honduras joined a complaint on Wednesday against an  
Australian law requiring all tobacco to be sold in plain packaging,  
warning of "serious economic consequences" if the measure was enforced.

Honduras, like Australia, was in favour of legitimate steps to reduce  
smoking, but plain packaging was not one of them, the central American  
country's ambassador to the WTO, Dacio Castillo, said.

"Australia's plain packaging requirements would defeat the basic  
function of a trademark, which is to allow consumers to distinguish  
between products of different companies," Castillo said in a statement.

The initial complaint was launched by Ukraine and is being closely  
watched by a number of other WTO members, with Brazil, Canada, the  
European Union, Guatemala, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway and Uruguay  
asked to be third parties in the dispute.

But so far only Honduras has taken sides.

"The tobacco industry has been part of Honduras' history for more than  
a century," Castillo added.

"The industry employs several hundred thousand people directly and  
indirectly ...This translates into tens of millions of dollars for the  
Honduran economy."

He said that Australia's law, which will require all tobacco products  
to be sold in plain packaging without brands or logos by Dec 1, was  
against WTO rules on intellectual property rights and technical  
barriers to trade.

If Ukraine and Honduras cannot settle their differences with  
Australia, they may ask the WTO to set up a dispute panel to rule on  
their complaint, which could eventually force Australia to scrap its  
law. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by John Stonestreet)




Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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