The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: This paper explores the relationship between trade liberalization and tobacco control in the Pacific Islands. It seeks to demonstrate that liberalization of trade in tobacco products in the Pacific region is likely to have a negative impact on efforts to reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related disease in the Pacific Islands.

Methods: This paper discusses the impact of trade liberalization on domestic policy and legislation to protect public health, and the relationship between trade liberalization and consumption patterns. It then provides an overview of tobacco use and tobacco-related disease in the Pacific region, and discusses possible links between present and future tobacco market and trade arrangements, and tobacco use in the region. The paper concludes by identifying the potential consequences for tobacco control in Pacific Island countries of tobacco trade liberalization.

Results: Trade liberalization potentially affects tobacco control in two ways: it is intended to stimulate demand and consumption (and is highly likely to do so if public health counter-measures are inadequate); and trade liberalization agreements typically circumscribe governments' capacity to adopt measures that restrict trade. A recent international trade agreement between the Pacific Island countries requires wide-ranging tariff reductions on most goods, but it requires the parties to develop separate rules to govern regional trade in tobacco and tobacco products. Since many of the objectives of free trade cannot be reconciled with the goal of reducing tobacco consumption, the parties should closely consider whether to wholly exclude trade in tobacco products from the agreement's ambit, on public policy grounds.