Defend tobacco carve-out proposal, Miti told

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) must defend the government’s proposal to exclude tobacco from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), said the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control (MCTC).
MCTC president Dr Molly Cheah said the agreement, going by the final TPPA text released on Nov 5, may not offer full protection for tobacco control measures, as the parties are given the option to “choose” to implement the exercise or to “deny” its benefits.
Cheah said the government should not compromise on its original position for a carve-out of tobacco control measures from the TPPA, as the move had not received opposition from the other 11 countries in the TPP.
“It is unfortunate that Miti did not defend its carve-out proposal, only to see the government caving in at the Atlanta meeting in October 2015,” she told reporters at the “TPPA: Tobacco Carve-out” press conference organised by Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu and Bantah TPPA yesterday.
The government had proposed to carve out tobacco from the Pacific rim free trade agreement, in order to exclude tobacco companies from using the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
The mechanism allows corporations to directly sue governments in international trade courts over legislation and regulations.
“Although Chapter 29 provides for countries to choose to exercise protection for tobacco control measures, and therefore achieve an important step in preventing the tobacco industries from using the ISDS mechanism to sue governments, this so-called protection is so weak and may not offer full protection as a total carve out proposal.
“Besides, many other chapters may either contravene the provisions of the FCTC, or provide opportunities for the tobacco industries to hamper Malaysia’s obligation to reduce tobacco use and strictly regulate the tobacco industry,” Cheah said.
About 180 countries are parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which obligates its signatories to fulfil tobacco demand reduction strategies. Eleven of the 12 TPPA countries are parties to the FCTC, with the US being the exception.