Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Trade liberalisation and tobacco control: moving from a policy of exclusion towards a more comprehensive policy
  1. Benn McGrady
  1. Correspondence to:
 B McGrady
 VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, The Cancer Council Victoria, 100 Drummond Street, Carlton, Melbourne, Vic 3053, Australia; benn.mcgrady{at}cancervic.org.au

Abstract

Notwithstanding the fact that it has been 10 years since empirical confirmation that trade liberalisation may increase tobacco consumption, tobacco control policy with respect to trade liberalisation and related processes remains largely underdeveloped. The most commonly articulated policy, that tobacco be excluded from the scope of trade agreements, is problematic for a number of reasons and has not been widely implemented. In light of this fact and the potential role of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, further research and policy development are needed in the area.

  • FCTC, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
  • PICTA, Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement
  • WTI, World Trade Institute
  • WTO, World Trade Organization

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • i This work is also consistent with previous work, such as Hertel et al18 (pp 30 and 56).

  • ii It is also worth noting that goods with negative externalities can generate negative growth and that, as such, the ability of a country to gain from trade in tobacco products depends partly on taxation policy and its enforceability.

  • Competing interests: None.

  • BM is a Legal Policy Adviser at the VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control at the Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Law at Monash University where he is examining the relationship between trade and tobacco control policy.