Fight over tobacco’s trade pact rights

US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, is pressing the Obama administration to protect the interests of his state’s tobacco industry, which he believes could be threatened by a trade deal, according to a story by Vicki Needham for The Hill.

McConnell is pressuring US negotiators to ensure that tobacco companies can take part in the dispute settlement portion of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact with several countries in Asia and Latin America.

Talks on the trade pact are scheduled for this week.

Malaysia, backed by other TPP partners and some health groups, wants to exclude tobacco companies from the dispute settlement system to keep them from filing suits that would seek to prevent tax hikes on tobacco products, or regulations requiring bigger health warning labels.

Tobacco companies say removing tobacco from the dispute settlement system would prevent the companies from suing governments over regulations that they consider damaging to their businesses, including regulations to remove their brands from packaging.