Australia seeks world backing on tobacco legal fight

Australia is confident the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws will soon pass parliament, but the government warned on Thursday that the anti-smoking fight was not over and urged other nations to reject a possible WTO challenge backed by big tobacco.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the minority government was bracing not only for a court challenge to its plan to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from 2012, but also an intellectual property dispute at the World Trade Organization.

"A tobacco company themselves can't bring a claim in the WTO. A state has to do that," Roxon told Reuters in an interview.

"I won't be surprised if tobacco companies are out there looking for a country to claim on their behalf, and we urge countries not to do that."

The new laws, expected to easily pass parliament next week with backing from the conservative opposition and Green crossbench senators, are being closely watched by New Zealand, Canada, the European Union and Britain, which are considering similar restrictions.

The legislation is in two parts, one of which mandates that cigarettes can only be sold in plain olive green packaging and another part restricting tobacco company trademarks.

The pathfinding plan has infuriated tobacco firms including Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, which have threatened a High Court challenge. Tobacco nations like Nicaragua, Kenya and Ukraine also say the measures breach global trade rules.

Despite political unease at home over potential compensation claims that tobacco companies have said could mount to billions of dollars, Roxon has been a passionate advocate for the laws within the Labor government, which has a one-seat buffer with the backing of Green and independent MPs.

Her father, Jack, a one-time smoker, died of esophageal cancer at 42, when Roxon was just 10, leaving her pharmacist mother alone to raise three daughters.

"Big tobacco companies do have big tentacles that reach far and wide across the world. I've made very clear to my international colleagues that they need to look at this not only from a health perspective, but from a trade perspective," Roxon, now 44, said.

Australia says the new laws reflect its obligations under the World Health Organization's 2005 framework against tobacco, which urges states to consider plain packaging laws. The WHO estimates more than 1 billion around the world are regular smokers, with 80 percent in low and middle income countries.

The Australian Government will provide an additional $700,000 to the World Health Organization (WHO) to increase the global fight against tobacco smoking. Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon today announced the contribution to the WHO’s secretariat for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in New York, while addressing a forum at the United Nations’ High Level Meeting on non-communicable diseases. “Tobacco is one of the deadliest products in the world and it is in the interest of all nations to act to minimise the harm from tobacco on their population. “The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides a comprehensive roadmap for implementation of effective tobacco control policies which more than 170 countries have ratified the FCTC. “Australia is the only country to have so far moved to introduce plain packaging of tobacco products, which FCTC guidelines advise parties to consider, and this funding is designed to help developing countries with their efforts to fight tobacco. The additional $700,000 for the FCTC secretariat is more than three times Australia’s assessed share in its biennial budget and will provide: