The battle grounds around tobacco and health are becoming more complicated as a result of existing and planned multilaterial trade agreements. The Philip Morris tobacco company is suing Uruguay for passing legislation that increased the size of health warnings on cigarette packs and put other curbs on cigarette marketing. In addition to the importance of the fight itself, the way in which Philip Morris is conducting this fight is an important early warning for new threats to national efforts at health policy. Philip Morris moved to Switzerland where it is using a provision of a Swiss/Uruguay trade agreement that allows Philip Morris to sue Uruguay if the Uruguayan government brings in legislation that will damage Philip Morris’ /*profits*/ from tobacco sales in Uruguay. [Yes, you read that right, the issue is impact on profits, not impact on health]. The litigation is taking place not in Uruguay’s courts or Swiss courts, it is taking place in a tribunal (International-State Dispute Settlements: ISDS) composed of lawyers under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. Not surprisingly WTO and its lawyers do not have global health concerns high on their agenda. The ISDS strategy is also in the currently planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the United States. Similar features will be in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). That will expand the potential for multinationals to sue governments (at all levels) if legislation in areas such as tobacco, health, environment, safety, etc. threaten their profits. This is an ominous new battle ground for all aspects of global health policy. Sam Lanfranco -- ------------------------------------------------ "It is a disgrace to be rich and honoured in an unjust state" -Confucius ------------------------------------------------ Dr Sam Lanfranco (Prof Emeritus & Senior Scholar) Econ, York U., Toronto, Ontario, CANADA - M3J 1P3 email: [log in to unmask] Skype: slanfranco blog: http://samlanfranco.blogspot.com Phone: +1 613-476-0429 cell: +1 416-816-2852 Access CANCHID archives at: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/canchid.html plus CANCHID subscription management. CANCHID is a joint service of the Canadian Society for International Health < http:www.csih.org > and the Distributed Knowledge Project (York University). Queries to Sam Lanfranco <[log in to unmask]>