Plain Packaging: Fighting the Chill of Investment Treaties

On November 21, the Australian Parliament enacted the world’s first tobacco plain packaging law. This groundbreaking public health legislation requires that all tobacco products sold in Australia as of December 1, 2011, be in plain packages with no industry logos, promotional texts, brand imagery or colors. It also requires that all cigarettes be sold in drab, olive green packages and include expanded graphic health warnings covering 75 percent of the front of the pack and 90 percent of the back. Upon the legislation’s passage, the Australian Minister of Health and Ageing stated, “[t]oday, one of the most momentous public health measures in Australia’s history has been delivered by the Australian Parliament — legislation requiring the plain packaging of tobacco products.”

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