468. New Zealand would like to, once again, record its support for the United Kingdom and Ireland’s decisions to introduce legislation requiring plain (or standardised) packaging for tobacco and tobacco products.
469. The TRIPS Agreement recognises the fundamental right of Members to implement measures necessary to protect public health and provides the necessary flexibilities for Members to do so. All of our Ministers agreed in the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health that "the TRIPS Agreement does not and should not prevent Members from taking measures to protect public health" and affirmed that "the Agreement can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of WTO Members' right to protect public health".
470. New Zealand believes that it is possible for Members to implement a tobacco plain packaging regime that is consistent with both their commitments under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and all of their WTO obligations.
471. There is an extensive and growing body of international research which establishes that tobacco plain packaging, as part of a comprehensive tobacco control programme, will contribute to the objective of improving public health. To date, New Zealand has not seen any credible evidence that proves otherwise.
