Arbitrators in Philip Morris International’s (PMI) challenge of Australian plain packaging for tobacco products will hear jurisdictional objections from the Canberra government before opening the main case, according to PMI.

“The tribunal decided it would be efficient to hear some of Australia’s objections to the tribunal’s jurisdiction before moving to the core issues in the case”, said Julie Soderlund, PMI vice president for communications. “We are eager to move past preliminary questions to a hearing during which we will show that Australia breached its promises to protect investments — promises that it has made in over 20 treaties and through its long history of enforcing strong trademark laws and fair regulatory processes.”
Australia is the only country to impose strictly standardised packaging on tobacco products, under a law that took effect late in 2012. PMI’s Asia unit challenged the law as a violation of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between Australia and Hong Kong. Under investor-to-state provisions of the BIT and UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), a three-judge tribunal was selected to arbitrate the dispute. The tribunal sits in Singapore. Arbitration will be completed by 2015 at the earliest, according to PMI.