<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1" class="">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><h1 itemprop="headline" id="story-heading" class="story-heading" style="font-size: 2.125rem; line-height: 2.375rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-style: italic;">U.S. Chamber of Commerce Works Globally to Fight Antismoking Measures</h1><div id="story-meta-footer" class="story-meta-footer" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 2px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><p class="byline-dateline" style="margin: 4px 45px 0px 0px; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; float: left;"><span class="byline" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/danny_hakim/index.html" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-weight: 700; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/danny_hakim/index.html" rel="author" title="More Articles by DANNY HAKIM" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span class="byline-author" data-byline-name="DANNY HAKIM" itemprop="name" data-twitter-handle="dannyhakim">DANNY HAKIM</span></a></span><time class="dateline" datetime="2015-06-30" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.75rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin-left: 12px;">JUNE 30, 2015</time></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="149" data-total-count="149" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-1" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">KIEV, Ukraine — A parliamentary hearing was convened here in March to consider an odd remnant of Ukraine’s corrupt, pre-revolutionary government.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="262" data-total-count="411" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Three years ago, Ukraine filed an international legal challenge against Australia, over Australia’s right to enact antismoking laws on its own soil. To a number of lawmakers, the case seemed absurd, and they wanted to investigate why it was even being pursued.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="396" data-total-count="807" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">When it came time to defend the tobacco industry, a man named Taras Kachka spoke up. He argued that several “fantastic tobacco companies” had bought up Soviet-era factories and modernized them, and now they were exporting tobacco to many other countries. It was in Ukraine’s national interest, he said, to support investors in the country, even though they do not sell tobacco to Australia.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="172" data-total-count="979" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Mr. Kachka was not a tobacco lobbyist or farmer or factory owner. He was the head of a Ukrainian affiliate of the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/chamber_of_commerce_us/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the United States Chamber of Commerce." class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a>, America’s largest trade group.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="379" data-total-count="1358" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-2" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">From Ukraine to Uruguay, Moldova to the Philippines, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its foreign affiliates have become the hammer for the tobacco industry, engaging in a worldwide effort to fight antismoking laws of all kinds, according to interviews with government ministers, lobbyists, lawmakers and public health groups in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.</p><figure id="us-chamber-commerce-cigarette-lobbying" class=" interactive has-lede-adjacency layout-large promo has-adjacency" style="margin: 15px auto 15px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 15px; padding-bottom: 15px; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); max-width: 945px; cursor: pointer; clear: left;"><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-3" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Continue reading the main story</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/29/us/us-chamber-commerce-cigarette-lobbying.html" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class=""><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); width: 210px; margin-right: 15px; float: left;"><h3 class="interactive-kicker" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.8125rem; font-weight: 400; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-transform: uppercase;">GRAPHIC </h3><h2 class="interactive-headline" style="font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.3125rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; margin: 0px 0px 3px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Making Tobacco’s Case </h2><p class="interactive-summary" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem;">See the letters the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent to governments all over the world in an effort to dismantle antismoking laws. </p></figcaption><div class="interactive-image-container" style="width: 315px; position: relative; float: right;"><div class="interactive-image" style="transition: opacity 0.3s; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.3s;"><img style="max-width: 100%; border: none;" apple-inline="yes" id="104FDC12-13D3-4C13-B255-7AFD3448B112" height="329" width="495" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:CCE1A205-6411-4108-A784-D49D5A5F9ECF@hsd1.pa.comcast.net." class=""></div><div class="interactive-overlay" style="border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; position: absolute; left: 15px; bottom: 15px; background-color: rgb(50, 104, 145); border: 1px solid rgb(0, 66, 118); padding: 15px;"><span class="interactive-overlay-icon icon sprite-icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: -5px; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150626-145853/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); width: 18px; height: 22px; background-position: 0px -75px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span> <span class="interactive-overlay-text" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 1.1875rem; font-weight: 600; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; margin-left: 4px; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">OPEN GRAPHIC </span></div></div></a></figure><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="494" data-total-count="1852" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-3" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The U.S. Chamber’s work in support of the tobacco industry in recent years has emerged as a priority at the same time the industry has faced one of the most serious threats in its history. A global treaty, negotiated through the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/world_health_organization/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about World Health Organization" class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">World Health Organization</a>, mandates anti-smoking measures and also seeks to curb the influence of the tobacco industry in policy making. The treaty, which took effect in 2005, has been ratified by <a href="https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IX-4&chapter=9&lang=en" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">179 countries</a>; holdouts include Cuba, Haiti and the United States.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="293" data-total-count="2145" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Facing a wave of new legislation around the world, the tobacco lobby has turned for help to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with the weight of American business behind it. While the chamber’s global tobacco lobbying has been largely hidden from public view, its influence has been widely felt.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="314" data-total-count="2459" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Letters, emails and other documents from foreign governments, the chamber’s affiliates and antismoking groups, which were reviewed by The New York Times, show how the chamber has embraced the challenge, undertaking a three-pronged strategy in its global campaign to advance the interests of the tobacco industry.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="121" data-total-count="2580" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In the capitals of far-flung nations, the chamber lobbies alongside its foreign affiliates to beat back antismoking laws.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="226" data-total-count="2806" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In trade forums, the chamber pits countries against one another. The Ukrainian prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, recently revealed that his country’s case against Australia was prompted by a complaint from the U.S. Chamber.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="334" data-total-count="3140" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">And in Washington, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/business/how-tom-donohue-transformed-the-us-chamber-of-commerce.html" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Thomas J. Donohue</a>, the chief executive of the chamber, has personally taken part in lobbying to defend the ability of the tobacco industry to sue under future international treaties, notably the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement being negotiated between the United States and several Pacific Rim nations.</p><div class="nocontent ad ad-placeholder robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px;"><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-4" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="frame-for-article ad-frame" style="border-style: none; width: 300px; height: 250px;"></iframe></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="302" data-total-count="3442" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-4" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“They represent the interests of the tobacco industry,” said Dr. Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, the head of the Secretariat that oversees the W.H.O treaty, called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. “They are putting their feet everywhere where there are stronger regulations coming up.”</p><figure id="media-100000003771930" class="media-100000003771930 media ratio-tall embedded photo layout-small-horizontal has-adjacency" data-media-action="modal" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web1/01cigarette-web1-master315.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" aria-label="media" role="group" style="margin: 6px 30px 45px 0px; position: relative; float: left; clear: left; width: 315px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="position: relative; margin-bottom: 7px; cursor: pointer;"><img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web1/01cigarette-web1-superJumbo.jpg" data-mediaviewer-caption="Thomas J. Donohue, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has defended the tobacco industry's right to sue under future international treaties." data-mediaviewer-credit="Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times" itemprop="url" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web1/01cigarette-web1-master315.jpg" style="max-width: 100%; display: block;" apple-inline="yes" id="BF9F999E-A4E5-45CE-A361-2637D6A07580" height="210" width="315" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:49D3F9B5-A39B-4D87-AA17-AFD9DF6453F3@hsd1.pa.comcast.net."><div class="media-action-overlay" style="transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; opacity: 0; bottom: 15px; left: 15px; position: absolute; z-index: 5; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); cursor: pointer;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150626-145853/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); width: 38px; height: 38px; background-position: -397px -98px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></div></div><figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span class="caption-text">Thomas J. Donohue, the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has defended the tobacco industry's right to sue under future international treaties.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem; display: inline-block; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Credit</span>Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times </span></figcaption></figure><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="613" data-total-count="4055" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The increasing global advocacy highlights the chamber’s enduring ties to the tobacco industry, which in years past centered on American regulation of cigarettes. A top executive at the tobacco giant Altria Group serves on the chamber’s board. Philip Morris International plays a leading role in the global campaign; one executive drafted a position paper used by a chamber affiliate in Brussels, while another accompanied a chamber executive to a meeting with the Philippine ambassador in Washington to lobby against a cigarette-tax increase. The cigarette makers’ payments to the chamber are not disclosed.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="424" data-total-count="4479" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">It is not clear how the chamber’s campaign reflects the interests of its broader membership, which includes technology companies like Google, pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and health insurers like Anthem. And the chamber’s record in its tobacco fight is mixed, often leaving American business as the face of a losing cause, pushing a well-known toxin on poor populations whose leaders are determined to curb smoking.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="450" data-total-count="4929" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The U.S. Chamber issued brief statements in response to inquiries. “The Chamber regularly reaches out to governments around the world to urge them to avoid measures that discriminate against particular companies or industries, undermine their trademarks or brands, or destroy their intellectual property,” the statement said, adding, “we’ve worked with a broad array of business organizations at home and abroad to defend these principles.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="73" data-total-count="5002" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The chamber declined to say if it supported any measures to curb smoking.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="256" data-total-count="5258" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The chamber, a private nonprofit that has more than three million members and annual revenue of $165 million, spends more on lobbying than any other interest group in America. For decades, it has taken positions aimed at bolstering its members’ fortunes.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="346" data-total-count="5604" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">While the chamber has local outposts across the United States, it also has more than 100 affiliates around the world. Foreign branches pay dues and typically hew to the U.S. Chamber’s strategy, often advancing it on the ground. Members include both American and foreign businesses, a symbiotic relationship that magnifies the chamber’s clout.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="304" data-total-count="5908" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">For foreign companies, membership comes with “access to the U.S. Embassy” according to the Cambodian branch, and entree to “the U.S. government,” according to the Azerbaijan branch. Members in Hanoi get an invitation to an annual trip to “lobby Congress and the administration” in Washington.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="591" data-total-count="6499" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Since Mr. Donohue took over in 1997, he has steered the chamber into positions that have alienated some members. In 2009, the chamber threatened to sue if the Environmental Protection Agency regulated greenhouse gas emissions, disputing its authority to act on <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival news about global warming." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">climate change</a>. That led Nike to step down from the chamber’s board, and to <a href="http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/apple-resignes-from-chamber-over-climate/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Apple’s departure from the group</a>. In 2013, the American arm of the Swedish construction giant Skanska <a href="http://blog.usa.skanska.com/why-skanska-dropped-its-membership-in-the-u-s-chamber-of-commerce-to-protest-proposed-changes-to-leed-in-government-buildings/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">resigned</a>, protesting the chamber’s support for what Skanska called a “chemical industry-led initiative” to lobby against green building codes.</p><div class="nocontent ad ad-placeholder robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px;"><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-5" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="frame-for-article ad-frame" style="border-style: none; width: 300px; height: 250px;"></iframe></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="461" data-total-count="6960" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-5" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The chamber’s tobacco lobbying has led to confusion for many countries, Dr. da Costa e Silva said, adding “there is a misconception that the American chamber of commerce represents the government of the U.S.” In some places like Estonia, the lines are blurred. The United States ambassador there, Jeffrey Levine, serves as honorary president of the chamber’s local affiliate; the affiliate quoted Philip Morris in a<a href="http://amcham.ee/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/AmCham_A4_brochure_210x297+3mm_preview_06.pdf" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class=""> publication</a>outlining its priorities.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="497" data-total-count="7457" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-6" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The tobacco industry has increasingly turned to international courts to challenge antismoking laws that countries have enacted after the passage of the W.H.O. treaty. Early this year, Michael R. Bloomberg and Bill Gates set up an <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102518380" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">international fund</a> to fight such suits. Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an advocacy group that administers the fund, called the chamber “the tobacco industry’s most formidable front group,” adding, “it pops up everywhere.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="193" data-total-count="7650" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In Ukraine, the chamber’s involvement was no surprise to Hanna Hopko, the lawmaker who led the hearing in Parliament. She said the chamber there had fought against antismoking laws for years.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="162" data-total-count="7812" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“They were against the tobacco tax increase, they were against placing warning labels on cigarettes,” she said. “This is just business as usual for them.”</p><figure id="media-100000003771931" class="media-100000003771931 media ratio-tall embedded photo layout-large-horizontal has-adjacency" data-media-action="modal" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web3/01cigarette-web3-articleLarge.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" aria-label="media" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 135px; position: relative; width: 540px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="position: relative; margin-bottom: 7px; cursor: pointer; width: 540px;"><img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web3/01cigarette-web3-superJumbo.jpg" data-mediaviewer-caption="Plain packaged tobacco products with health warnings in Sydney, Australia." data-mediaviewer-credit="Andrew Quilty for The New York Times" itemprop="url" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web3/01cigarette-web3-articleLarge.jpg" style="max-width: 100%; display: block;" apple-inline="yes" id="A0D2019D-759B-44CD-A755-8DDCE2E88D0B" height="400" width="600" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:1C9676A8-A187-4440-8E27-DE1D22AD4662@hsd1.pa.comcast.net."><div class="media-action-overlay" style="transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; opacity: 0; bottom: 15px; left: 15px; position: absolute; z-index: 5; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); cursor: pointer;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150626-145853/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); width: 38px; height: 38px; background-position: -397px -98px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></div></div><figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); width: auto; right: 0px; bottom: 23px;"><span class="caption-text">Plain packaged tobacco products with health warnings in Sydney, Australia.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem; display: inline-block; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Credit</span>Andrew Quilty for The New York Times </span></figcaption></figure><h4 id="subhead-1" class="story-content story-subheading" data-para-count="27" data-total-count="7839" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-size: 1.5625rem; line-height: 1.8125rem; font-weight: 300; margin: 33px 0px 14px 135px; width: 532px;">Country-by-Country Strategy</h4><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="317" data-total-count="8156" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">More than 3,000 miles away, in Nepal, the health ministry proposed a law last year to increase the size of graphic warning labels from covering three-fourths of a cigarette pack to 90 percent. Countries like Nepal that have ratified the W.H.O. treaty are supposed to take steps to make cigarette packs less appealing.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="261" data-total-count="8417" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Not long afterward, one of Nepal’s top officials, Lilamani Poudel, said he received an email from a representative of the chamber’s local affiliate in the country, warning that the proposal “would negate foreign investment” and “invite instability.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="320" data-total-count="8737" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In January, the U.S. Chamber itself weighed in. In a letter to Nepal’s deputy prime minister, a senior vice president at the chamber, Tami Overby, wrote that she was “not aware of any science-based evidence” that larger warning labels “will have any discernible impact on reducing or discouraging tobacco use.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="155" data-total-count="8892" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">A 2013 <a href="http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/graphic-warnings-on-cigarettes-effective-across-demographic-groups/" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Harvard study</a> found that graphic warning labels “play a lifesaving role in highlighting the dangers of smoking and encouraging smokers to quit.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="132" data-total-count="9024" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">While Nepal eventually mandated the change in warning labels, cigarette companies filed for an extension and compliance has stalled.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="213" data-total-count="9237" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“Since we have to focus on responding to the devastating earthquake, we have not been able to monitor the state of law enforcement effectively,” said Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, a senior health ministry official.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="298" data-total-count="9535" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The episode reflects the chamber’s country-by-country lobbying strategy. A pattern emerged in letters to seven nations: Written by either the chamber’s top international executive, Myron Brilliant, or his deputies, they introduced the chamber as “the world’s largest business federation.”</p><div class="nocontent ad ad-placeholder robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px;"><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-7" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="frame-for-article ad-frame" style="border-style: none; width: 300px; height: 250px;"></iframe></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="404" data-total-count="9939" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Then the letters mention a matter “of concern.” In Jamaica and Nepal, it was graphic health warnings on packages. In Uruguay, it was a plan to bar cigarettes from being displayed by retailers. The Moldovan president was warned against “extreme measures” in his country, though they included common steps like restricting smoking in public places and banning advertising where cigarettes are sold.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="182" data-total-count="10121" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">A proposal to raise cigarette taxes in the Philippines would open the floodgates to smugglers, the government there was told. Tax revenue has increased since the proposal became law.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="281" data-total-count="10402" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-8" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“We are not cowed by them,” said Jeremias Paul, the country’s under secretary of finance. “We meet with these guys when we’re trying to encourage investment in the Philippines, so clearly they are very influential, but that doesn’t mean they will dictate their ways.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="385" data-total-count="10787" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Protecting tobacco companies is portrayed by the chamber as vital for a nation’s economic health. Uruguay’s president is warned that antismoking laws will “have a disruptive effect on the formal economy.” El Salvador’s vice president is told that “arbitrary actions” like requiring graphic health warnings in advertisements undermine “investment and economic growth.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="69" data-total-count="10856" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">On the ground, the chamber’s local affiliates use hands-on tactics.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="215" data-total-count="11071" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">After Moldova’s health ministry proposed measures in 2013, Serghei Toncu, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moldova, laid out his objections in a series of meetings held by a regulatory review panel.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="196" data-total-count="11267" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“The consumption of alcohol and cigarettes is at the discretion of each person,” Mr. Toncu said at one meeting, adding that the discussion should not be about “whether smoking is harmful.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="68" data-total-count="11335" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“You do not respect us,” he told the health ministry at another.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="76" data-total-count="11411" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">At a third, he called the ministry’s research “flawed from the start.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="186" data-total-count="11597" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">His objections were not merely plaintive cries. The American chamber has a seat on Moldova’s regulatory review panel giving it direct influence over policy making in the small country.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="252" data-total-count="11849" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“The American Chamber of Commerce is a very powerful and active organization,” said Oleg Chelaru, a team leader on the staff that assists the review panel. “They played a very crucial role in analyzing and giving an opinion on this initiative.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="235" data-total-count="12084" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Mr. Toncu, who has since left the chamber, declined to comment. Mila Malairau, the chamber’s executive director, said its main objective was to make sure the industry “was consulted” in “a transparent and predictable manner.”</p><figure id="media-100000003771938" class="embedded layout-large-horizontal media-100000003771938 ratio-tall photo media" data-media-action="modal" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web4/01cigarette-web4-articleLarge.jpg" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject" aria-label="media" role="group" style="margin: 45px 0px 45px 105px; position: relative; width: 600px;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Photo</span><div class="image" style="position: relative; margin-bottom: 7px; cursor: pointer; width: 600px;"><img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web4/01cigarette-web4-superJumbo.jpg" data-mediaviewer-caption="Protesters displayed fake body bags at a tobacco trade show at Pasay, the Philippines, in 2013." data-mediaviewer-credit="Bullit Marquez/Associated Press" itemprop="url" itemid="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/06/30/business/01cigarette-web4/01cigarette-web4-articleLarge.jpg" style="max-width: 100%; display: block;" apple-inline="yes" id="0E5DCC83-FFCD-4BE1-BEEE-3D83BA753E61" height="414" width="600" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:C3891B37-C38C-4A85-98EC-DB06E5A8F285@hsd1.pa.comcast.net."><div class="media-action-overlay" style="transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; opacity: 0; bottom: 15px; left: 15px; position: absolute; z-index: 5; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); cursor: pointer;"><span class="icon sprite-icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; background-image: url(http://a1.nyt.com/assets/article/20150626-145853/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg); width: 38px; height: 38px; background-position: -397px -98px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;"></span></div></div><figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); width: auto; right: 0px; bottom: 23px;"><span class="caption-text">Protesters displayed fake body bags at a tobacco trade show at Pasay, the Philippines, in 2013.</span><span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem; display: inline-block; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span class="visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Credit</span>Bullit Marquez/Associated Press </span></figcaption></figure><aside class=" selected-comment-marginalia marginalia comments-marginalia" data-marginalia-type="sprinkled" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-9" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: dotted; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); width: 300px; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 45px 7px; padding-top: 10px;"><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-9" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><header class=""><h2 class="module-heading" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 1em; color: rgb(50, 104, 145); text-transform: uppercase;"><span class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; transition: background-color 0.3s; width: 20px; height: 13px; background-color: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-top-left-radius: 1px; border-top-right-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; margin: -3px 8px 0px 0px;"></span>RECENT COMMENTS</h2></header><div class="comments-view" style="margin-bottom: 15px;"><article class="comment" data-permid="15364330" style="margin-top: 0px;"><header class=""><h2 class="commenter" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; display: inline-block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">casual observer</h2> <time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">13 minutes ago</time></header><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">By it's crass indifference to human life shown by it's efforts to prevent human beings from protecting themselves from a clearly established...</div></article><article class="comment" data-permid="15364328" style="margin-top: 15px;"><header class=""><h2 class="commenter" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; display: inline-block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">bnc</h2> <time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">13 minutes ago</time></header><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a terrorist organization and must be placed on the FBI's most wanted list.</div></article><article class="comment" data-permid="15364325" style="margin-top: 15px;"><header class=""><h2 class="commenter" style="font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; display: inline-block; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">M.M.</h2> <time class="comment-time" datetime="" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.9375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">13 minutes ago</time></header><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);" class="">Greed knows no bounds and certainly has no notion of what basic human decency means. These people are a truly disgusting example of what a...</div></article></div><footer style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(226, 226, 226); padding-top: 2px;" class=""><ul class="comment-actions" style="margin: 0px; list-style: none; padding-left: 0px;"><li class="comment-count" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.75em; display: inline-block; margin-right: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">SEE ALL COMMENTS</li> <li class="comment-reply" style="font-size: 0.625rem; line-height: 1.375rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; display: inline-block; margin-right: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">WRITE A COMMENT</li></ul></footer></aside><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="156" data-total-count="12240" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-9" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">After recently passing in Parliament, the long-stalled measures were subject to fresh objections from <a href="http://www.amcham.md/index.php?go=news&n=416#.VXrJ9tJVhBd" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">the chamber</a> and others, and have not yet been enacted.</p><h4 id="subhead-2" class="story-content story-subheading" data-para-count="26" data-total-count="12266" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-size: 1.5625rem; line-height: 1.8125rem; font-weight: 300; margin: 33px 0px 14px 135px; width: 532px;">Fighting a Trade Exception</h4><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="217" data-total-count="12483" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In Washington, the U.S. Chamber’s tobacco lobbying has been visible in the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a priority of the Obama administration that recently received critical backing in Congress.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="433" data-total-count="12916" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">One of the more controversial proposals would expand the power of companies to sue countries if they violate trade rules. The U.S. <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/blog/no-exclusions-why-carveouts-would-weaken-trans-pacific-partnership" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Chamber has openly opposed</a> plans to withhold such powers from tobacco companies, curbing their ability to challenge national antismoking laws. The chamber says on its website that “singling out tobacco” will “open a Pandora’s box as other governments go after their particular bêtes noires.”</p><div class="nocontent ad ad-placeholder robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px;"><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-10" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-10" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe src="http://srv.dynamicyield.com/st?sec=8765344&id=June%208-30%202015%20-%20DY%20Test%20Elsewhere%20Datafeed%20-%20Multiple%20sources" width="300px" height="280px" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" vspace="0" hspace="0" frameborder="0" style="border-style: none; overflow: hidden;" class=""></iframe></div><div id="MiddleRightN" class="nocontent middle-right-ad ad text-ad robots-nocontent" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0px 0px 40px 7px; position: relative;"><div class="accessibility-ad-header visually-hidden" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif;" class="">Advertisement</p></div><a class="visually-hidden skip-to-text-link" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-10" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">Continue reading the main story</a><iframe frameborder="0" class="frame-for-article ad-frame" style="border-style: none; width: 300px; height: 263px;"></iframe></div><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="263" data-total-count="13179" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-10" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The issue is still unresolved. A spokesman for the United States trade representative said negotiators would ensure that governments “can implement regulations to protect public health” while also “ensuring that our farmers are not discriminated against.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="310" data-total-count="13489" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Email traffic shows that Mr. Donohue, the chamber’s head, sought to raise the issue in 2012 directly with <a href="http://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyers/rkirk" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" class="">Ron Kirk, who was then the United States trade representative</a>. In email exchanges between staff members of the two, Mr. Donohue specifically sought to discuss the role of tobacco in the trade agreement.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="331" data-total-count="13820" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“Tom had a couple of things to raise, including urging that the tobacco text not be submitted at this round,” one of Mr. Donohue’s staff members wrote to Mr. Kirk’s staff. The emails were produced in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which provided them to The Times.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="267" data-total-count="14087" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Mr. Kirk is now a senior lawyer at Gibson, Dunn, a firm that counts the tobacco industry as a client. He said in an interview that during his tenure as trade representative, he met periodically with Mr. Donohue but could not recall a specific conversation on tobacco.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="163" data-total-count="14250" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">He said trade groups were generally concerned about “treating one industry different than you would treat anyone else, more so than doing tobacco’s bidding.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="68" data-total-count="14318" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">The chamber declined to make Mr. Donohue available for an interview.</p><h4 id="subhead-3" class="story-content story-subheading" data-para-count="21" data-total-count="14339" itemprop="articleBody" style="font-size: 1.5625rem; line-height: 1.8125rem; font-weight: 300; margin: 33px 0px 14px 135px; width: 532px;">A Face-Saving Measure</h4><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="333" data-total-count="14672" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In Ukraine, it was Valeriy Pyatnytskiy who signed off on the complaint against Australia in 2012, which was filed with the World Trade Organization. At the time, he was Ukraine’s chief negotiator to the W.T.O. His political career has survived the revolution and he is now an adviser to the Ukrainian prime minister, Mr. Yatsenyuk.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="119" data-total-count="14791" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">In a recent interview, he said that for Ukraine, the case was a matter of principle. It was about respecting the rules.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="287" data-total-count="15078" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">He offered a hypothetical: If Ukraine allowed Australia to use plain packaging on cigarettes, what would stop Ukraine from introducing plain packaging for wine? Then Ukrainian winemakers could better compete with French wines, because they would all be in plain bags marked red or white.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="99" data-total-count="15177" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“We had this in the Soviet times,” he said. “It was absolutely plain packaging everywhere.”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="61" data-total-count="15238" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Some Ukrainian officials have long been troubled by the case.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="227" data-total-count="15465" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“It has nothing to do with trade laws,” said Pavlo Sheremeta, who briefly served as Ukraine’s economic minister after the revolution. “We have zero exports of tobacco to Australia, so what do we have to do with this?”</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="63" data-total-count="15528" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Last year, he urged the American Chamber in Kiev to reconsider.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="268" data-total-count="15796" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“I wrote a formal letter, asking them, ‘Do you still keep the same position?’ ” Mr. Sheremeta said. “Basically I was suggesting a face-saving way out of this.” But when he met with chamber officials, the plain packaging case was outlined as a top priority.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="118" data-total-count="15914" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">They refused to back down. After Mr. Pyatnytskiy, a tobacco ally, was installed as his deputy, Mr. Sheremeta resigned.</p><button class=" theme-speech-bubble comments-button button" data-skip-to-para-id="story-continues-11" style="margin: 0px; font-size: 0.6875rem; vertical-align: middle; line-height: 0.8125rem; cursor: pointer; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; transition: background-color 0.3s; padding: 3px 15px 22px 0px; border: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-transform: uppercase; float: left; position: relative;"><a class="visually-hidden" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/international/us-chamber-works-globally-to-fight-antismoking-measures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1#story-continues-11" style="position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(50, 104, 145);">CONTINUE READING THE MAIN STORY</a><span class="icon" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.3s; transition: background-color 0.3s; width: 90px; height: 55px; background-color: rgb(135, 156, 180); border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; padding: 0px;"></span><span class="button-text" style="display: inline-block; vertical-align: middle; margin-left: 0px; width: 86px; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; padding: 15px 2px 7px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;"><span class="count" style="font-size: 1.375rem; line-height: 1rem; font-weight: 700; display: block;">211</span><span class="units" style="font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 0.6875rem; display: block; margin-top: 6px;">COMMENTS</span></span></button><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="56" data-total-count="15970" itemprop="articleBody" id="story-continues-11" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">“The world was laughing at us,” he said of the case.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="314" data-total-count="16284" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Shortly after The Times discussed the case with Ukrainian government officials, there were new protests from activists. Mr. Yatsenyuk called for a review of the matter. Ukraine has since suspended its involvement, but other countries including Cuba and Honduras are continuing to pursue the case against Australia.</p><p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="172" data-total-count="16456" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 135px; line-height: 1.4375rem; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; width: 532px; max-width: 540px;">Andy Hunder, who took over as president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kiev in April, said the organization was moving on, adding, “We are looking forward now.”</p><footer class="story-footer story-content" style="margin-left: 135px; width: 532px; margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 45px;"><div class="story-meta"><div class="story-notes"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.125rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Sofiia Kochmar contributed reporting from Kiev, Bhadra Sharma from Kathmandu and Palko Karasz from London.</p></div></div></footer><nav id="next-in" class=""></nav></div></div><div apple-content-edited="true" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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