Via Benn McGrady, here's an op-ed from trade lawyer Simon Lacey explaining his advice to the Indonesian government on whether to file a WTO complaint against Australia's plain packaging law:
A few months ago I was asked to provide a legal opinion on whether or not Indonesia should throw its hat into the ring and join the other four WTO Members (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ukraine) in bringing a case against Australia on the issue of plain packaging tobacco laws. I did so, and ultimately advised Indonesia that it should bring a case, not because I think the case is particularly worth fighting or because the claimants have a particularly strong chance of winning, but because I believe Indonesia needs all the practice it can get at asserting its interests at the WTO.
...
For Indonesia, this is another opportunity for it to develop and enhance its understanding of how, when, and why to use the WTO dispute settlement system to further its own export interests. ...
...
My advice to the Trade Ministry to bring the most recent case was based on the fact that Indonesia still has some very important WTO disputes that it must fight in the near future in order to assert its national economic and development interests, the most important of which is arguably going to be a case against either the European Union, the US or both, regarding Indonesian exports of palm-oil biodiesel. In order to take on two of the biggest and most experienced practitioners of WTO dispute settlement, Indonesia needs to get as much practice as it can. The current dispute on plain-packaging tobacco offers as good an opportunity to do this as any, especially since tobacco companies will be footing the bill.
There are a number of political scientists who study various aspects of government participation in WTO disputes. I suspect this is likely to make their heads spin a bit.
