Plain tobacco packaging contrary to a WTO intellectual property agreement. WTO complaints must be made by Governments, not companies. British American Tobacco confirmed that they were helping Ukraine meet legal costs in their case against Australia. By May 2013 Cuba, Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic challenged Australia's rules through the WTO by filing requests for consultations, the first step in challenging Australia’s tobacco-labelling laws at the WTO A request for consultations opened a 60-day negotiation window after which a formal complaint could be filed which, if successful, might have led to increased tariffs on Australian exports. On 28 May 2015 Ukraine, which
Plain tobacco packaging (WHO FCTC). On 31 May 2016, on World No Tobacco Day, the WHO called on governments to get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products. Plain packaging appears to have been first suggested in 1989 by the New Zealand Department of Health’s Toxic Substances Board which recommended that cigarettes be sold only in white packs with black text and no colours or logos. Public health officials in Canada developed proposals for plain packaging of tobacco products in 1994. A parliamentary committee reviewed the evidence and concluded that plain packaging could be a “reasonable step in the overall strategy to reduce