Australia's double standard on Thailand's alcohol warning labels

Abstract

Australia's actions suggest it is willing to protect its alcohol industry at the expense of public health in Thailand.

Trade Policy and Public Health

“…The final requirement was that all alcoholic beverage packages carry one of six graphic warnings. These proposals by Thailand are a technical regulation and have been challenged on TBT grounds by numerous countries, including Australia, which was simultaneously implementing stricter alcohol controls within its own borders (101).…”

Vested Interests in Addiction Research and Policy. Is the alcohol industry delaying government action on alcohol health warning labels in Australia?

“…The influence of members of the Australian alcohol industry on the issue of alcohol warning labels has implications not just for Australian public policy on this matter, but internationally. For instance, the Australian Government raised objections at the World Trade Organization to the introduction of alcohol warning labels in Thailand, but did not raise any concerns about Kenya's alcohol labelling laws [39,40]. This suggests that Australia is not in favour of mandatory warning labels in contexts such as Thailand, which are a rapidly growing wine export market for Australia [39], but supports this in countries such as Kenya, which represent a negligible share of Australian alcohol exports [41].…”

“…For instance, the Australian Government raised objections at the World Trade Organization to the introduction of alcohol warning labels in Thailand, but did not raise any concerns about Kenya's alcohol labelling laws [39,40]. This suggests that Australia is not in favour of mandatory warning labels in contexts such as Thailand, which are a rapidly growing wine export market for Australia [39], but supports this in countries such as Kenya, which represent a negligible share of Australian alcohol exports [41]. Furthermore, it indicates that Australia assigns greater priority to protecting its own alcohol industry than protecting public health in Thailand.…”

Trade law and alcohol regulation: what role for a global Alcohol Marketing Code?

“…The application of international trade law rules to packaging and labelling measures has been the subject of considerable discussion to date [33]. While the need to consider the possible impacts of similar regulatory interventions in respect of alcohol and other unhealthy products is clear, this paper does not seek to go over this well-trod ground, but instead is concerned with the intersections between trade rules and other non-labelling forms of alcohol marketing restrictions-such as sponsorship bans, restrictions on television or print advertising or bans on the use of billboards for alcohol advertising.…”