Fallout from PM-Uruguay lawsuit feeds opposition to international trade deals

As Philip Morris International sues Uruguay over health warnings and restrictions on sub-brands, the country – population 3.4 million – has found itself a test case for big business lawsuits that could hit the EU, according to a story in The Independent.

On a wider front, Uruguay has unwittingly found itself at the center of rising opposition to international free trade deals.

PM is suing Uruguay because the country has increased the size of the health warnings on cigarette packs from 50 percent to 80 percent, and because it has clamped down on tobacco companies’ use of sub-brands or brand variants.

The company is taking its legal action under the terms of a bilateral trade agreement between Switzerland and Uruguay.

The trade deal has at its heart a provision allowing Swiss multinationals the right to sue the Uruguayan people if they bring in legislation that will damage the multinationals’ profits.

The litigation can be brought before tribunals known as international-state dispute settlements (ISDS), which are ruled upon by lawyers under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.

Such an ISDS agreement is also core to the EU’s planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) treaty being negotiated with the US.

The critics of TTIP fear the tribunals will see US multinationals sue European governments in such areas as regulating tobacco, health and safety, and quality controls.

The full story is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/big-tobacco-puts-countries-on-trial-as-concerns-over-ttip-deals-mount-9807478.html#.