G/TBT/W/397  
21 January 2015  
(15-0418)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: Spanish  
 
  UNITED KINGDOM – PROPOSAL TO INTRODUCE 
PLAIN PACKAGING OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS 
STATEMENT BY THE DOMINICAN REPU BLIC AT THE MEETING OF THE 
COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE OF 
5-6 NOVEMBER 2014 
The following communication, dated 21 January 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Dominican Republic. 
 
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1.  The Dominican Republic has taken note of United Kingdom's Standardized Packaging 
of Tobacco Product Regulations ("Plain Packaging Re gulations") as notified by the European Union 
to the TBT Committee on 3 September 2014 (G/TBT/N/GBR/24). These plain packaging 
regulations require the elimination of trademarks and geographical indications (GI) from the retail packaging of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco in the United Kingdom (UK). 
2.  The Dominican Republic is deeply concerned that WTO Members such as the UK should be 
considering the adoption of plain packaging of tobacco products. At today's meeting, other Members expressed their concern regarding proposals by France and Ireland on the plain packaging of tobacco products. 
3.  My government, together with those of Ukraine, Honduras, Indonesia and Cuba, is currently in 
the process of challenging similar tobacco plain packaging measures adopted almost two years ago 
by Australia, on the grounds that such measures are inconsistent with the obligations 
of WTO Members under the TBT Agreement and th e TRIPS Agreement. The Dominican Republic 
recently tabled its first written submission to the Panel. 
4.  The plain packaging measures, as applied by Au stralia and proposed by the UK, involve not 
only the elimination of all graphical representations of trademarks and GIs, but also the 
standardization of other elements of the packag ing of tobacco products such as the shape, 
the opening mechanism and the materials used for cigarette packs. These measures also apply to cigars and individual cigarettes. For example, al l trademarks are eliminated from the cigarettes 
themselves, and other distinctive graphic elements  such as the colour of the markings and the 
filter have been standardized. The purpose of the measure is to ensure that the packaging of tobacco products and the individual products ar e as similar to each other in appearance and as 
unattractive as possible. The objective of the tobacco products plain packaging measures is to 
reduce smoking. 
5.  The Dominican Republic fully subscribes to the objective of reducing tobacco consumption. 
Under the WTO Agreements, Members are free to adopt tobacco control measures that efficiently 
promote and protect public health, provided they  respect certain fundamental principles. These 
fundamental principles guarantee that measures th at restrict trade and diminish the protection 
of intellectual property rights are sufficiently warra nted on public health grounds, that they protect 
the mutual commitments made by WTO Members,  and that they safeguard the security and 
predictability of the multilateral trading system. Under these fundamental principles, any measures that restrict trade and undermine the protection of intellectual property rights must contribute to 
actually achieving the public health objectives that  they purport to achieve. And there must be no 
reasonably available less restrictive alternative measures by which to achieve the same objectives. G/TBT/W/397 
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  6.  Plain packaging is not consistent with these fundamental principles. In our first written 
submission, we provided evidence based on a methodical analysis of almost two years of real-world empirical data currently available on the impact of the Australian plain packaging system on the behaviour of smokers. The result s are unequivocal: contrary to the predictions 
of its advocates, plain packaging has not reduced tobacco consumption. 
7.  What the real-world empirical data did confirm, however, is that generic packaging undermined 
the competitive opportunities for tobacco producers by preventing producers from using 
trademarks and geographical indications to signal to consumers the premium quality and 
reputation of their products. 
8.  The differentiation of products competing on the market is fundamental to competition, 
and remains the foundation for competitive opportunities in international markets governed by the 
agreements that protect them. Trademarks and GIs are crucial to differentiate goods and to signal 
the quality, characteristics and reputation of the competing products. With a plain packaging 
system, these aspects cannot be shown, and th e producers are deprived of the competitive 
opportunities that such elements provide. Mark et diversity is replaced by standardization, 
and price remains the only significant factor that producers can use to compete. 
9.  The real-world empirical data confirms that plain packaging has undermined the competitive 
opportunities of tobacco producers in Australia. Since the introduction of plain packaging, 
the market has been distorted as consumers have turned increasingly to cheaper tobacco products. This is particularly damaging to  the competitive opportunities of our higher-end 
tobacco producers, who are unable to provide any in dication of the premium quality and reputation 
that they have painstakingly built up through de cades of investment. And though the market has 
been distorted, the evidence shows that plain packaging has reduced neither the prevalence nor 
the consumption of tobacco. 
10.  In order to try to understand the impact of plain packaging on consumer behaviour, 
the Dominican Republic also sought the opinion of academics in different fields, including marketing, psychology and medical sciences. None of these experts were surprised by the results 
of the empirical data. On the basis of their own pa rticular experience, they explained in statements 
to the Panel that plain packaging was an inefficient way to reduce the number of persons that took 
up smoking, to boost the number of persons that quit smoking or to reduce the number of persons 
that relapsed after having quit. 
11.  Finally, the Dominican Republic consulted two groups of academic experts on research 
methodologies to assess the scientific rigour of the evidence adduced by the advocates of 
plain packaging. Both groups found, independently, that the studies used to justify plain packaging 
failed to meet the most basic standards of methodological rigour, and consequently failed to 
produce reliable results. 
12.  In conclusion, it is clear from the evidence presented before the Panel that plain packaging 
destroys the intellectual property rights of our producers and undermines their competitive 
opportunities, without providing any concrete adva ntage for public health. If plain packaging has 
failed to promote public health as predicted, then there is no justification for its radical interference with trademarks and geographical in dications and with trade in the tobacco products 
concerned – added to which there are other effectiv e means available to the regulating authorities 
to reduce tobacco consumption in a way that is consistent with the principles of the WTO. The Dominican Republic has pointed out some of these means to the Panel. 
13.  For all of the above reasons, the Dominica n Republic urges the UK and other Members 
of the WTO to refrain from adopting the plain packaging of tobacco or any other product that is harmful to health until the WTO has ruled on whether this radical measure is consistent with 
its Members' obligations under the TBT and TRIPS Agreements. WTO Members should not resort to 
a measure that is contrary to their WTO obligations and which, in addition, does not achieve any legitimate health objectives. 
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