Australia defeats tobacco giants in plain packaging case

Friday, 5 May 2017

In 2012, tobacco giant Philip Morris launched legal action against Australia’s plain packaging cigarette laws, seeking financial compensation for lost sales and profits under an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause contained in an obscure investment agreement with Hong Kong.

Here’s the Productivity Commission’s explanation of this action via its Trade and Assistance Review:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.