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CTEI Geneva Speaker Series

   
 

Big Tobacco’s Legal Challenges to Plain Packaging in Australia
Professor Andrew Mitchell
Melbourne Law School
Monday, 14th November 2011  I  17.00 to 19.00


Venue
Auditorium Jacques Freymond (AJF)
132, Rue de Lausanne, Geneva

Organised by
This lecture is organised by the Graduate Institute's Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) in collaboration with the MIDS programme.

Registration Deadline
To register for this event, please submit the Registration Form by Friday 11th November.

 
 
 
Registration
 

Background

The Australian Commonwealth Government has committed itself to the plain packaging of tobacco products. It has introduced into Parliament legislation that will restrict or prohibit the use of tobacco industry logos, colours, brand imagery and promotional text on tobacco product packaging other than brand names and product names in a standard colour, font style and position. Predictably, the tobacco industry has taken issue with the initiative. Part of the industry’s response is to suggest that a number of domestic and international legal barriers preclude plain packaging. One objection is that the initiative would require the Australian Government to pay compensation, on the basis that it entails an acquisition of property under s 51(xxxi) of the Australian Constitution. Another suggestion is that it may be contrary to Australia’s obligations under the World Trade Organization, preferential trade agreements, or bilateral investment treaties. This presentation explains the actual and potential international legal challenges and the extent to which international laws constrain public health initiatives.

 

  

Biography
 

Andrew joined the faculty at Melbourne Law School in 2006. In 2007, following a nomination by the Australian government, the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body added him to the Indicative List of Governmental and Non-Governmental Panelists to hear WTO disputes. He has law degrees from Melbourne Law School, Harvard Law School and the University of Cambridge. His previously employers include the IMF, the OECD, Davis Polk & Wardwell, and Allens Arthur Robinson. Andrew also consults for the private sector and governmental and non-governmental organisations including Telstra and the WHO. He has over 80 academic publications and has taught at numerous other law schools in Canada, the US and Australia.