OTTAWA—Canada’s efforts to force tobacco manufacturers to use plain packaging will get a boost from a recent decision on similar measures in Uruguay, health advocates said Monday.
The South American country successfully beat back an international trade challenge by Philip Morris International, which objected to rules requiring warning labels on 80 percent of packaging and restricting each brand to only a single product.
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, called the decision just the latest in a string of international defeats for the tobacco industry on the controversial issue of plain packaging.
“The tobacco industry claims these measures are invalid, but they keep losing these cases,” Cunningham said in an interview.
“That’s going to provide encouragement to governments to make sure their regulations are not only adopted but they are as comprehensive as possible.”
