Cuba Lodges WTO Challenge on Australia Plain Packaging Rule

Cuba has filed a formal WTO challenge against Australia’s controversial plain packaging law for tobacco products, officials announced on Monday. The case (DS458) marks Havana’s first dispute at the global trade arbiter, as either a complainant or respondent.

At issue is a measure that requires all tobacco products to be sold in standardised, single-colour, logo-free packaging, with a significant portion of the package being devoted to health warning labels. The legislation, known as the Plain Packaging Act, was approved in late 2011 and took effect in December 2012.

Havana argues that the Australian law appears to be inconsistent with Canberra’s obligations under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), as well as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement.

The request for consultations is the first step in the WTO dispute settlement process. Should the parties to the dispute be unable to reach a resolution after 60 days of talks, then Cuba will have the right to ask that a WTO panel be established to hear the complaint.

Australia’s plain packaging legislation has come under fire from other WTO members as well, with the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Ukraine already having lodged separate complaints over the measure.

The three members have similarly argued that the law is inconsistent with the WTO’s intellectual property rules and could have large negative impacts on local industries. However, Australian officials have countered that the legislation is designed to meet the “legitimate objective” of protecting public health.

While the Ukraine challenge has led to the establishment of a panel, it will likely not be composed until the other complaints also reach that stage, so that a panel can hear the cases jointly.