One of America's most powerful business groups, the US Chamber of Commerce, has lodged an objection with the European Commission on the Government's plans to introduce plain packaging on tobacco products.
A letter outlining the chamber's objections to the Commission along with a statement signed by 70 business groups, including organisations from the UK to Korea, were handed to the private secretary of Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlie Flanagan at a chamber-hosted business breakfast in Washington on Tuesday.
‘Dangerous precedent’
The representations mark a sharp escalation in the intense lobbying effort to force the Government to back down on its anti-smoking efforts and were made ahead of the Dáil debating the proposals under the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014 today.
In a letter dated September 18th, the chamber, the world’s largest business federation, warned the Commission that the Government’s proposal not only adversely affects the EU single market but “also sets a dangerous precedent at the expense of the protection of IP [intellectual property] rights for a number of industries, not just tobacco.
“Indeed, internationally there are similar proposals for plain packaging on additional products based on alcohol, fat and/or sugar content. This is precisely the situation we believe should be avoided given its adverse consequences on global IP protections and the potential disruption to trade flows,” it said.
The chamber noted that American businesses have invested more than $2.3 trillion (€1.8 trillion) in the EU to take advantage of the single market but that it is concerned that a member state “would propose legislation that would in effect raise a barrier to intra-EU trade that has not existed previously”.
The Commission was warned that “the impact on the economy of Ireland could also be significant if it is viewed as failing to safeguard IP rights through the improper destruction of registered marks.”
At Tuesday's business breakfast, Mr Flanagan was hosted by Myron Brilliant, the chamber's executive vice president and head of international affairs, a signatory of the letter.
Ireland would be the first EU country to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products following Australia, the first country to introduce the measure in 2012.
