Legal capacities required for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases

Law lies at the centre of successful national strategies for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. By law we mean international agreements, national and subnational legislation, regulations and other executive instruments, and decisions of courts and tribunals. However, the vital role of law in global health development is often poorly understood, and eclipsed by other disciplines such as medicine, public health and economics. This paper identifies key areas of intersection between law and noncommunicable diseases, beginning with the role of law as a tool for implementing policies for prevention and control of leading risk factors. We identify actions that the World Health Organization and its partners could take to mobilize the legal workforce, strengthen legal capacity and support effective use of law at the national level. Legal and regulatory actions must move to the centre of national noncommunicable disease action plans. This requires high-level leadership from global and national leaders, enacting evidence-based legislation and building legal capacities

Necessity Exceptions in WTO Law: Retreaded Tyres, Regulatory Purpose and Cumulative Regulatory Measures

The recent decisions of the panel and Appellate Body in Brazil - Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyres touched upon a number of issues of ongoing significance to the application of necessity tests, such as those in Article XX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. This article argues that the dispute represents a mixed outcome for the application of necessity tests. The express recognition that some regulatory measures are complementary to one another rather than reasonably available alternatives constitutes a welcome step forward. On the other hand, the panel's characterization of Brazil's regulatory goal highlights an approach common to a number of panel reports that could justify a perception of arbitrariness in application of necessity tests. Similarly, comments made by the Appellate Body to the effect that a panel is obliged to consider the importance of a state's regulatory goal extend the role of a panel in an unjustifiable manner. , Oxford University Press.

Trade and tobacco control: the World Trade Organization and the framework convention on tobacco control

The conclusion of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) was something of a watershed moment for health promotion and for international law more generally. As the first treaty concluded under the auspices of the WHO, the FCTC heralded a new era of international health law and diplomacy. In this respect, there is little doubt that the FCTC has spurred states into action in the field of tobacco control. Similarly, the FCTC may also serve as a model for future treaties to address the 35 million deaths that result annually from preventable non-communicable diseases. Notwithstanding this, the question of whether the FCTC has fulfilled one of its core purposes remains unanswered. The forward to the FCTC describes the convention as a response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic and, in particular, to the liberalisation of trade. Without doubt, the drafters of the FCTC were concerned with the potential for trade liberalisation to stimulate tobacco consumption. In fact, empirical studies conducted prior to the conclusion of the FCTC confirmed what trade theory suggested -that aggressive liberalisation of trade in tobacco products had stimulated tobacco consumption in a number of developing countries. In response, the FCTC obliged parties to implement a range of tobacco control measures as an indirect means of flanking trade liberalisation. Of course, the drafters were also concerned with the question of whether trade agreements such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement allowed sufficient regulatory freedom so as to permit effective and comprehensive tobacco control. In respect of this question, however, the parties were neither able to find an answer nor agree upon a solution that would negate this risk. As a consequence, tobacco control advocates continue to call for the complete exclusion of tobacco from trade agreements. Against this backdrop, this study examines the question of whether the FCTC is an adequate response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic. This question is explored by reference to the application of the WTO covered agreements to tobacco control measures as well as by reference to the legal relationship between the two treaties. It is argued that an adequate response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic requires further action in both the context of the FCTC and the WTO. In particular, action is required so as to minimise uncertainty surrounding application of the WTO covered agreements to tobacco control measures. Additionally, administrative style international laws should govern processes of trade-related policy-making where those efforts may have a negative impact upon tobacco-related health. These approaches should improve the response of the FCTC to trade processes, promote the reconciliation of trade and tobacco control as policy choices and ensure that the FCTC is capable of serving as a model with respect to broader issues of trade and health

TRIPs and trademarks: the case of tobacco

Proposed tobacco control measures such as mandating plain packaging of products and prohibiting the use of terms such as light and mild when associated with tobacco products raise the issue of to what degree WTO Members have regulatory freedom in relation to trademarks under the TRIPs Agreement. This paper uses these measures as a case study to examine rules relating to registration and use of trademarks. More particularly, the scope of Article 20 is addressed, as is the issue of whether TRIPs creates a positive right to use a trademark. This paper argues that no right of use is provided for by TRIPs and that Article 20, whilst not prohibiting the measures in question, is not based upon sound principle and is difficult to interpret. Finally, this paper argues that rules relating to use of trademarks require re-negotiation and that a minimum standard of protection for use of trademarks is not justified except where such a standard relates to principles of national treatment or most-favored-nation principles.

La conceptualización de las amenazas al control del tabaco provenientes de acuerdos económicos internacionales: la experiencia brasileña

Submitted by Regiane Silva ([email protected]) on 2018-07-30T17:15:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 A conceituação das ameaças ao controle do tabaco.pdf: 557142 bytes, checksum: 4225348a26c951f57d34edc10acc69e6 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Regiane Silva ([email protected]) on 2018-08-01T15:10:27Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 A conceituação das ameaças ao controle do tabaco.pdf: 557142 bytes, checksum: 4225348a26c951f57d34edc10acc69e6 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T15:10:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 A conceituação das ameaças ao controle do tabaco.pdf: 557142 bytes, checksum: 4225348a26c951f57d34edc10acc69e6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017American Cancer Society. Atlanta, USA.World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland.University of California. San Francisco, USA.McGill University. School of Physical and Occupational Therapy. Quebec, Canadá.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sérgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.Com base nos resultados de dezenas de entrevistas com atores-chave envolvidos na formulação de políticas de controle do tabaco, examinamos as percepções desses atores em relação a ameaças ao controle do tabaco provenientes de políticas econômicas internacionais (comerciais e de investimento). Adotando uma perspectiva jurídica, avaliamos também as ameaças existentes e desafios potenciais que as políticas econômicas podem apresentar para os esforços do governo brasileiro na defesa da saúde pública. Segundo nossos achados, a maioria dos atores não percebe tais políticas econômicas como uma grande ameaça ao controle do tabaco. Objetivamente, de fato existem algumas ameaças. Por exemplo, a tentativa do Brasil de proibir a maioria dos aditivos e saborizantes do tabaco ainda enfrenta resistência na Organização Mundial do Comércio.Using the results of dozens of interviews with key actors involved in tobacco control policymaking, we examine these actors’ perceptions of threats to tobacco control policy efforts from international economic policies on trade and investment. We also evaluate, from a legal perspective, the genuine threats that exist or potential challenges that economic policies may pose to the Brazilian government’s public health efforts. We find that most actors did not perceive these economic policies as a major threat to tobacco control. Objectively, we found that some threats do exist. For example, Brazil’s attempt to ban most tobacco additives and flavorings continues to meet resistance in the World Trade Organization.En base a los resultados de decenas de entrevistas con actores-clave, involucrados en la formulación de políticas de control al tabaco, examinamos las percepciones de estos actores, en relación con las amenazas al control del tabaco, provenientes de políticas económicas internacionales (comerciales y de inversión). Adoptando una perspectiva jurídica, evaluamos también las amenazas existentes y desafíos potenciales que las políticas económicas pueden presentar para los esfuerzos del gobierno brasileño en la defensa de la salud pública. Según nuestros hallazgos, la mayoría de los actores no percibe tales políticas económicas como una gran amenaza al control del tabaco. Objetivamente, de hecho, existen algunas amenazas. Por ejemplo, la tentativa de Brasil de prohibir la mayoría de los aditivos y saborizantes del tabaco enfrenta incluso resistencia en el seno de la Organización Mundial del Comercio