The Office of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) undercut global efforts to curb smoking by moderating its position during trade talks to forge the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), said public health associations and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

USTR dropped a pledge made in 2012 to insert language into TPP to prevent tobacco companies from contesting domestic anti-smoking measures by alleging violations of international trade agreements, the groups said in a joint statement. “This is a missed opportunity for the United States to lead the fight against this global epidemic,” said the statement from the anti-smoking group and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and American Academy of Pediatrics.
“USTR is abandoning this proposal and has announced that it will offer language explicitly reaffirming that tobacco control measures are included in a provision of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that recognizes nations' authority to enact health and safety measures. This is the first time tobacco would be singled out as being included in the public health exception to the GATT. However, this language is far weaker than USTR's original proposal, would not cover lawsuits initiated by tobacco companies and would not provide nations that adopt strong tobacco control measures with the protection they need from tobacco industry challenges,” the groups said.