This might seem off topic - it is about the depredations of Big Tobacco - but it uncovers a very nasty element in the NAFTA trade agreement that impinges on the way member states label their products and thus allows for meddling in their internal affairs:
"NAFTA's controversial Chapter 11 section allows foreign companies to sue Ottawa for compensation if their investments in Canada have been hurt by Canadian laws or regulations." Such claims may easily be used to stop metric-only labelling by a member state. Is this possibly the reason why it is impossible to buy metric-only measuring tools in Brazil as Marcus reported some time ago???? http://www.bigtobaccosucks.org If Britain were ever to join NAFTA she would soon find out how her sovereignty might be eroded to nothingness by big companies, not by a grouop of nations pooling their sovereignty. I think that the UKIP favours British membership of NAFTA but of course, this party will gloss over such rules in that agreement. Han Historian of Dutch Metrication, Nijmegen, The Netherlands News Box > News Article Mar 16. 2002 Tobacco firm warns 'mild' cigarette ban Source: Steven Chase, The Globe and Mail OTTAWA -- Tobacco giant Philip Morris International has warned the federal government that Ottawa will violate NAFTA and global trade rules if it goes ahead with a proposal to ban the use of the words "light" and "mild" on cigarette labelling in Canada. A Philip Morris spokesman said the cigarette maker, which owns a significant stake in Canada's Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc., has not ruled out suing Ottawa under the North American Free Trade Agreement if the ban is enacted. "I wouldn't rule out any options," said Mark Berlind, a lawyer with Philip Morris Management Corp., a Philip Morris affiliate company. Former federal health minister Allan Rock announced last August he would begin proceedings to ban terms such as "light" and "mild" from cigarette labels because the words deceive smokers into believing such products are safer. Mr. Rock's bid came after an effort to get tobacco companies to remove the terms voluntarily failed. A spokesman for newly appointed Health Minister Anne McLellan said her department is reviewing feedback from consultations and deciding how to proceed. NAFTA's controversial Chapter 11 section allows foreign companies to sue Ottawa for compensation if their investments in Canada have been hurt by Canadian laws or regulations. In a submission to Ottawa about the proposed ban, Philip Morris International, Philip Morris Cos. Inc.'s international tobacco subsidiary, warns Canada that it considers any ban expropriation, a measure that NAFTA rules say demands compensation. "Under NAFTA . . . Canada must compensate foreign investors when measures expropriate, or are tantamount to expropriation of, investments in Canada," the company told Ottawa. Mr. Berlind said Philip Morris would prefer to work with Ottawa on regulations to govern how terms describing cigarettes are used, including disclaimers. The company said tobacco firms developed low-tar yield cigarettes in the 1970s with the encouragement of the government, a move that led to a significant market developing for consumers who preferred the lighter-tasting brands. "The ban would be tantamount to an expropriation of tobacco trademarks containing descriptive terms, as well as of the substantial investment in and goodwill associated with those marks and the brands they represent." Copyright � 2002 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. Source Links: http://www.globeandmail.com
