bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

health


Hearings to start in Uruguay anti-smoking
Uruguay faces its first hearings in the French capital this week in a lawsuit filed by US tobacco giant Philip Morris International against its anti-smoking laws, an official said on Monday.
USTR working to develop new text on IP and health in the TPP
USTR has begun an “internal review of the controversial pharmaceutical patent proposal that U.S. trade officials tabled” earlier in the TPP negotiations.
Hazards in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs): Investors’ rights v. public health
Developing countries that have signed BITs should start a process of review and eventual renegotiation or denunciation, writes Carlos Correa
EU seeks stiff rules on free trade deal
The European Union wants Canada to agree to compensate European companies for any losses that stem from changes to health, environment or safety rules in Canada, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
Big Tobacco warning at free-trade talks
Delegates attending trans-Pacific free-trade negotiations in the United States are being warned their countries could end up like Australia if they agree to allow corporations to sue governments in international courts.
Australia upholds tobacco branding ban
Australia’s High Court has rejected a challenge by the world’s biggest tobacco companies which are seeking to overturn a law requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from the start of December.
Fair trade group condemns big tobacco’s use of trade agreements to continue plain packaging fight after High Court defeat
“We welcome the High Court decision as a vindication of the Government’s right to regulate tobacco as an addictive substance that still kills 15,000 Australians per year,” Dr Patricia Ranald, Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, said today.
Plain packaging risks lawsuits
Smoking is bad for our health. Smoking is detrimental to our economic well-being - smoking-related conditions and diseases cost the health service in this country millions and millions of dollars each year. But moves to reduce or stop smoking in this country could cost us just as much if not more.
Study: Pact with EU to lead to poorer health services
A study done by research group IBON showed that a free trade deal with the European Union (EU) will lead to poorer access to health services and more unaffordable medicines as well as undermine government revenues including public health spending.
Free trade agreements threaten right to food and health
Just on the day when the government suspended its decision on FDI in the retail sector, a report by United Nations’ Working Group on Human Rights in India pointed that the country’s free trade agreements (FTA) threaten the rights to food, health, work and development, especially of vulnerable groups.
Cigarette plain packaging laws pass Parliament
The Federal Government’s plain packaging laws for cigarettes have now passed both houses of Parliament but are facing their first legal challenge.
American for-profit hospitals to expand under KORUS FTA: report
With the passage of the South Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), the American medical industry expects to widen its opportunities to establish for-profit hospitals in South Korea in addition to limiting domestic authority to close them once they are established, according to a report by the US Department of Commerce released Sunday.
New trade agreement threatens Australia’s laws on medicines and tobacco
Australia leads the world in many areas of public health but the Federal Government could be negotiating our achievements away, according to Dr Patricia Ranald, Convenor, Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network
Alcohol lobbyists expose FTA pitfalls
Lobbyists for the alcohol industry are threatening to use New Zealand’s free trade agreements against government proposals to restrict products targetting young drinkers
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: Did US move threaten public health?
Civil society groups say a leaked document from regional free trade negotiations between countries bordering the Pacific Ocean shows the United States favouring giant pharmaceutical companies at the expense of public health.
Beware the tobacco bullies: Do not let them use free trade agreements to endanger public health
Tobacco giants are invoking investor-state dispute mechanisms in bilateral investment agreements to challenge moves of governments which are aimed at controlling the widespread use of tobacco products. This scary development highlights the dangers of signing trade or investment treaties which could give corporations the right to sue governments over legitimate health or other public interest regulations.
Korea-EU FTA to put Seoul at public health crossroads
Pharmaceuticals might not have been the most discussed sector before the Korea-European Union Free Trade Agreement came into effect from July 1.
Tobacco giant suing Australian govt ’a warning’ for NZ
Tobacco giant Philip Morris suing the Australian government for introducing plain packaging laws for tobacco should send shockwaves through this country as it seeks a free trade deal involving the US, says an academic critic of the deal.
Julia Gillard stands firm on cigarette plain packaging
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she won’t be intimidated by big tobacco after Philip Morris launched legal action to try to force the government to back down on introducing plain packaging for cigarettes.
Eureko secures exit from Polish PZU row
An agreement has been signed between the Polish Ministry for State Treasury and Eureko to pay the insurer an interim dividend in November 2009 worth €1.85bn.