Apart from Honduras and Ukraine which have challenged the legislation on plain packaging of tobacco products of Australia, the Dominican Republic is also a complainant in the WTO dispute (DS441). The request for consultation is here. I have blogged about the issue here, here and here.The WTO website shows that this is Dominican republic's first case as a complainant as a WTO member. Challenging a developed country like Australia in the WTO is an indication of the level playing, rule based system that the dispute settlement system of the WTO offers to both the developed and developing worlds.
Reuters recently reported that the Dominican Republic had now requested for the establishment of a WTO Panel, presumably because the consultations did not lead to any results.
"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."
Interesting points from the Dominican Republic standpoint:
1. The critical role of the tobacco industry in the national economic growth perspective of the country
2. Livelihood of many locals will be affected by the measure
3. Investments and intellectual property rights impacted
4. Export of tobacco products integral part of the developing economies growth story
5. Multilateral trade rules protect the country's interests
6. Domestic pressures would definitely favor local employability against public health concerns of another country
What considerations will the Panel depend upon? Are the interests of developing countries and employment relevant at al in the dispute settlement process? Will they have a role to play in deciding the compatibility of the Australian measure? Australia's health concerns versus the Dominican Republic's economy - what will prevail? Include in this the business interests of Tobacco companies - it does make a heady cocktail that the WTO dispute settlement has to confront.
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