In a bold move to reclaim its position as a global leader in tobacco control, this week, Uruguay repealed two decrees that weakened its tobacco control laws — signaling a victory for public health over private corporate interests.
The first decree from 2021 permitted the sale of heated tobacco products, a measure that some deemed ill-advised due to their known health risks. The 2022 measure sought to erode plain packaging standards by allowing distinctive brand elements on cigarettes and their packaging. While both controversial measures faced significant pushback, the decree allowing for more flexible plain packaging standards was particularly scandalous. Contrary to the best available evidence and expert advice, Uruguay adopted the latter measure as the result of a direct request from the tobacco industry, as admitted by the former Uruguayan president. It also overtly contradicted both the Uruguayan plain packaging law and its tobacco marketing restrictions legislation, as well as the binding precepts of the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Implementing the measure would significantly undermine the progress Uruguay had made in reducing tobacco use over the years.
Upon the decree’s adoption, civil society organizations challenged the measure in court, arguing that it violated national and international human rights and tobacco control law. With the support of the O’Neill Institute’s Center for Health and Human Rights, the case tested an innovative legal strategy — a writ to protect children’s rights in order to block the decree’s implementation. It was a bold strategy that used legal avenues that had traditionally not been leveraged to protect collective rights. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of civil society organizations, resulting in a landmark judicial ruling that suspended the decree’s implementation in 2022.
In the ruling, using reasoning grounded in children’s rights to health and other interrelated human rights, the judge highlighted the need to adopt a preventive approach to health — stressing the state’s obligation to prevent the health harms associated with tobacco. The ruling also found that the government failed to provide evidence that modifications to plain packaging would not be harmful to health, effectively reversing the burden of proof regarding health harms. The court further underlined the state’s duty to prioritize the rights of children and adolescents over other interests, especially commercial ones.
While the legal battle continued in the administrative court, this innovative legal strategy was ultimately successful in blocking the decree’s implementation. Following the initial ruling, the measure never went into effect and has now been officially repealed.
The case is a testament to civil society’s resistance, leadership, and activism in standing up to industry interference. It also highlights the opportunities to push the boundaries of traditional legal mechanisms to protect health and other human rights in the face of pressure from the tobacco industry. Today, the Ministry of Health’s decision to repeal both decrees is a victory worth celebrating — one that puts Uruguay back on the map as a major champion of tobacco control.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the O’Neill Institute.
