Regulatory chills: tobacco industry legal threats and the politics of tobacco standardised packaging in New Zealand.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

To describe the process of enacting tobacco standardised packaging (SP) amidst tobacco industry legal threats in New Zealand.

Methods

Relevant government and NGO documents, and media items were reviewed. Policymakers and health advocates in New Zealand were interviewed. The data were triangulated and thematically analysed.

Results

In 2011, the New Zealand Government announced the goal of becoming a smokefree country (reducing smoking prevalence to 5%) by the year 2025, and considered adopting SP. In April 2012, the Government announced it would introduce SP, but tobacco companies threatened the Government with litigation in international courts for violating investment and intellectual property rights. In response, the Government adopted a 'wait and see' approach

SUBMITTER: Crosbie E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6490166 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature