You're reading: Public health advocates cheer Ukraine’s decision to stop lobbying tobacco interests in plain-packaging case

Ukraine’s Economy Ministry on June 4 suspended and will drop its three-year-old World Trade Organization case against Australia's cigarette packaging law.

Ukraine has since 2012 been lobbying against Australia’s requirement to have tobacco products sold in plain, drab packaging.

The Australian measure was strongly opposed by the tobacco industry because plain packages have been shown to cut smoking rates by depriving cigarette makers from using the packs as marketing tools through colorful logos, advertising slogans and brand promotion.

Plain-packaging laws have proven to be a success in driving down smoking rates, especially among youth in Australia.

Ukraine got a bad reputation globally for challenging the public health law in the WTO. Critics have long accused successive Ukrainian governments of favoring tobacco interests over public health.

But Ukraine’s Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavicius decided to put a stop to the case.

“The ministry analyzed the situation, met with all of the stakeholders during the past couple of weeks and made a decision about the cancellation of this dispute,” Abromavicius told a press conference on June 4.

Abromavicius said the ministry needs to focus on priorities, such as developing free trade agreements with the European Union and Canada.

Moreover, the minister said “there is no economic logic in this dispute.”

To the contrary, siding with the tobacco industry hurt Ukraine’s reputation. “We put a lot of efforts in order to attract investors into the country. We cannot allow ourselves dubious proceedings taking place in the biggest trade organization of the world,” Abromavicius said.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s statement on May 20 foreshadowed the decision when he expressed “serious doubts” about continuing the dispute, the same day that local anti-tobacco organizations picketed in front of the Cabinet of Ministers to gain attention to Ukraine’s sketchy challenge against Australia.

The cancellation triggered praise from public health advocates.

Andriy Skipalskyi, chairman of Advocacy Center Life, a non-profit anti-tobacco advocacy group, celebrated the achievement. “Ukrainian officials, specifically Abromavicius and his team, were able to break tobacco lobbyism and adopt a landmark decision,” Skipalskyi wrote on his Facebook page.

Hanna Hopko, a member of Parliament and former anti-tobacco activist, also hailed the decision.

“Tobacco lobbyists have lost their influence. For Ukraine, the national interest and image, as well as relations with Australia, are more important,” said Hopko, who chairs Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., called the reversal “a blow to the tobacco industry’s continuing efforts to challenge Australia’s world-first plain packaging law. By suspending its case before the WTO, Ukraine has delivered a clear message that the new government is making public health a priority over the interests of the big tobacco companies.”

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said British American Tobacco, one of the world’s biggest tobacco companies, financially supported the case by Ukraine’s government against Australia via the World Trade Organization. British American Tobacco did not immediately answer a request for comment.

The organization also said Ukraine’s decision to suspend its WTO challenge aligns the country’s trade policy on tobacco with its strong domestic laws to reduce tobacco use, including a strong, nationwide smoke-free law; large, graphic cigarette warnings; a ban on tobacco advertising, promotions, and sponsorships; and higher tobacco taxes.

Earlier this year, Ireland and the United Kingdom became the second and third countries to require plain packaging, and other countries are considering such legislation, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Ilya Timtchenko can be reached at [email protected].