Tobacco, Health and Investor-State Dispute Settlement : Australia's Recent Treaty Practice

Australia has successfully defended its first investment treaty claim, brought by Philip Morris Asia Ltd under the bilateral investment treaty between Australia and Hong Kong. As researchers investigate the impact of such claims on treaty design, Australia provides an interesting case study. While causation between the Philip Morris claim and the drafting of Australia’s newer international investment agreements cannot be established, some common threads appear in some of the agreements related to tobacco control and public health more broadly. Australia appears to be attempting in its various agreements to reach a balance between broad protections for public health that may prove difficult to interpret and apply and more concrete references to tobacco control (and other specified programs) that do not protect other aspects of health regulation