612. New Zealand would like to record its support for the decisions and consideration of the introduction of plain (or standardized) packaging requirements for tobacco and tobacco products by Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and France.
613. The TRIPS Agreement recognizes 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".
614. New Zealand believes that it is possible for Members to implement a tobacco plain packaging regime that is consistent with all of their WTO obligations and their commitments under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
615. There is an extensive and growing body of international research that establishes that plain packaging, as part of a comprehensive tobacco control programme, will contribute to the objective of improving public health. To date, we have not seen any credible evidence that proves otherwise.
616. New Zealand's Smoke-free Environments (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Amendment Bill remains draft legislation, and will need to be complemented by implementing regulations. New Zealand's legislative and regulatory process allows ample opportunity for New Zealand to take into account the dispute settlement process in relation to Australia's plain packaging measures, before finalizing and implementing our plain packaging measures.
