Australia hit by WTO action over plain packaging

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Australia hit by WTO action over plain packaging

Ukraine has launched legal proceedings at the WTO over Australia’s plans to force tobacco companies to sell cigarettes in plain packs

Yesterday Ukraine’s representative in Geneva requested consultations with Australia. This is the first step in a legal dispute at the trade body.

The Ukrainian government argues that Australia's Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 and its Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Act 2011 violate the TRIPs Agreement and GATT, the umbrella agreement covering trade in goods.

Questions about the compatibility of TRIPs with Australia’s new plain packaging law were discussed at the last meeting of the TRIPs Council in February. The issue of tobacco packaging was placed on the agenda by the Dominican Republic.

At previous meetings, a number of WTO member states, including the Ukraine, Mexico, Nigeria, Cuba, Honduras and Zimbabwe, have argued that the law will violate Australia’s obligations under the TRIPs Agreement by preventing cigarette and cigar companies from using their trade marks.

Representatives from a number of other countries have argued that they should be able to use the flexibilities in TRIPs for public health purposes.

Australia’s parliament passed the government’s plain packaging legislation in November. The legislation was split into two bills – Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011 and Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill 2011.

Tobacco companies have consistently argued that the legislation breaches Australia’s commitments under the TRIPs Agreement, violates the country’s constitution and will make it easier for cigarette packets to be counterfeited.

Managing IP will have more analysis of the dispute later this week.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Deborah Kirk discusses why IP and technology have become central pillars in transactions and explains why clients need practically minded lawyers
IP STARS, Managing IP’s accreditation title, reveals its latest rankings for patent work, including which firms are moving up
Leaders at US law firms explain what attorneys can learn from AI cases involving Meta and Anthropic, and why the outcomes could guide litigation strategies
Attorneys reveal the trademark and copyright trends they’ve noticed within the first half of 2025
Senior leaders at TE Connectivity and Clarivate explain how they see the future of innovation
A new action filed by Nokia against Asus and a landmark ruling on counterfeits by South Africa’s Supreme Court were also among the top talking points
Counsel explain how they’re navigating patent prosecution matters and highlight key takeaways from Federal Circuit cases
A partner who joined Fenwick alongside two others explains what drew her to the firm and her hopes for growth in Boston
The England and Wales High Court has granted Kirkland & Ellis client Samsung interim declaratory relief in its ongoing FRAND dispute with ZTE
A UDRP decision that found in favour of a small business in a domain name dispute could encourage more businesses to take a stand in ‘David v Goliath’ cases
Gift this article