Philip Morris Gets Its Ash Kicked in Uruguay

A win - a real win!!!

Philip Morris became the first tobacco company to take on a country in an international court, and it took on one of the smallest. The company argued that Uruguay had violated terms of an investment treaty with Switzerland by enforcing anti-smoking laws. The operational headquarters for Philip Morris International is in Lausanne.

www.truth-out.org...

I am cynical enough to believe that this was a 'purposeful' loss for propaganda purpose in this election year and ongoing international protest of these 'free trade' (private profit at public expense) agreements with their onerous "Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)" provisions. I think the internationals are willing to 'give up' big tobacco to save big Agriculture, big Pharma and big Energy. I'd call it an excellent 'return on investment'.

A win nontheless.

They also lost against Australia last year....

Australia has won an international legal battle to uphold its world-leading tobacco control measures, with Philip Morris failing in its long-running attempt to challenge plain packaging laws under a bilateral trade agreement with Hong Kong. The decision could give other countries greater confidence to follow Australia’s lead in outlawing tobacco company logos on cigarette packets and moving to drab, uniform designs dominated by graphic health warnings. Ireland passes plain packaging bill for cigarettes Read more Philip Morris Asia Limited launched its challenge against the Australian government in 2011, seeking to rely on an argument that the ban on trademarks breached foreign investment provisions of Australia’s 1993 Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Hong Kong. But the arbitral tribunal has declined jurisdiction to hear the case, the company said in a statement issued on Friday.

www.theguardian.com...

a reply to: hellobruce

Thanks for the reminder.

a reply to: FyreByrd

I'm sorry to go political in your thread, but this is exactly why Hillary simply cannot be voted for. If she is elected the TPP will become law to all signatory countries and Philip Morris and other corporations will start winning these kind of lawsuits.

a reply to: Vector99

If she is elected the TPP will become law to all signatory countries and Philip Morris and other corporations will start winning these kind of lawsuits.

Sorry Vector, but that is a big negatory.

The ISDS provisions in the TPP are much less likely to raise these kind of issues than the ISDS provisions in the Australia / Hong Kong or the Switzerland / Uruguay agreements.

First of all, the Australian case and the Uruguayan case both PROVE beyond any legal question that international trade agreements simply CANNOT override the sovereign right of a nation to legislate for the benefit of its citizenry.

Secondly, the nations negotiating the ISDS in the TPP recognized that frivolous cases like the ones Phillip Morris pushed are not what the ISDS was supposed to enable and have 'modernized' the ISDS to at least discourage them, if not prevent them altogether.

It is simply not true that the ISDS provisions in the TPP threaten the US Constitution, or the Constitution of any other country, in any way what-so-ever.

a reply to: rnaa

It is simply not true that the ISDS provisions in the TPP threaten the US Constitution, or the Constitution of any other country, in any way what-so-ever.

I would LOVE for you to back this claim up with literally any substantiated proof.

Here's mine

a reply to: FyreByrd

Who exactly is making money by pissing on Phillip morris?

I find it strange how such a big Corp within the world's corrupted govt keeps getting smacked? It's very unusual.

They must have pissed off the wrong people?