Tobacco and trade/investment issues are heating up.
Philip Morris is suing Norway:
Philip Morris Norway (PMN) has announced it’s going to sue the Norwegian state. They claim the ban against displaying tobacco products that came into force on 01 January is illegal.
“These regulations prevent adult consumers from seeing the available product range. We have raised these issues with the government to no avail, which has regrettably left us with no choice but to litigate,” says Anne Edwards, spokesperson for PMN.
Edwards goes on to say the company isn’t seeking any other changes to the Norwegian tobacco law. They only want the ban overturned because it overly restricts competition.
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The lawsuit will be filed at Oslo District Court. As part of the filing, PMN is seeking referral of the case to the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) Court in Luxembourg.
More here from Luke Peterson, as well as a piece on a similar Philip Morris claim under an investment treaty between Switzerland and Uruguay (subscribers-only).
Over at the WTO, we are awaiting a panel ruling on a customs valuation issue related to tobacco products:
Manila claims that Bangkok has been ignoring the declared customs values of Philip Morris’ shipments, preferring instead to set higher "predetermined values" since 2006.
This meant higher duties and value-added taxes on imported cigarettes were also allegedly higher than those slapped on Thai counterparts.
These policies were said to unfairly favor the state-owned Thai Tobacco Monopoly which corners 80% of the domestic market.
Oh, and there is still the Jim Bunning issue:
Sen. Jim Bunning, the Kentucky Republican who held Senate hostage over an unemployment bill earlier this month, is now causing trouble for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Bunning is blocking the confirmation of two trade nominees because, according to an aide, the USTR hasn’t done enough to defend Bunning’s home state against a Canadian antismoking law that “unfairly discriminates against Kentucky-grown tobacco.” Bunning said Tuesday he’s seen no progress in his talks with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk about Canada’s policy.
