Articles

Background The Reason Foundation is an American think tank which describes its mission as “advancing a free society by developing, applying, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law”. It’s states that it aims to “change the way people think about issues, and promote policies that allow and encourage individuals and voluntary institutions…

Background The Property Rights Alliance (PRA) was formed in 2009 in Washington, and has described itself as an “advocacy organization dedicated to the protection of physical and intellectual property rights, both domestically and internationally”.53 The PRA’s focus is the protection of intellectual property, which it argues fosters “growth in trade and foreign direct investment not just in the…

Daniel Gervais is a Professor at Vanderbilt Law School in the United States, specialising in International Intellectual Property Law. Vanderbilt Law School, Daniel J. Gervais, Vanderbilt University, 2018, accessed September 2018 Background Previously, Gervais worked for 10 years on trade and intellectual property policy issues as a legal officer at the World Trade Organization (WTO).D.J. Gervais, Daniel Gervais…

Founded in 1984, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) describes itself as providing a “full-service approach to advancing public policy” by publishing research, campaigning, and lobbying. It is focussed on advocating for “freedom on a range of regulatory policy issues”.95 Relationship with the tobacco industry Based in Washington D.C., the Institute has lobbied on conventional tobacco and newer nicotine…

Professor Alan Zimmerman is a Professor of International Business and Marketing at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island, where he has taught since 1998. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is also a founder of three businesses and is president of Radley Resources, a business to business consulting firm whose clients include American Express and DuPont.

Background The EU Better Regulation agenda is an approach to governing regulation. Better regulation programmes, sometimes termed ‘smart regulation’, have been adopted by many governments across the world. They vary substantially but have a common focus on regulatory quality and burden reduction, operationalised via impact assessment, evaluation, and stakeholder consultation (see below). The Better Regulation agenda was formally…

Background JHM Pesquisa e Consultoria em Seguranca is a Brazilian consulting firm, focused on illegal trade and international crimes in South America, especially around the tri-border between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Links to the tobacco industry JHM received PMI Impact funding in September 2017 for a project to analyse illegal trade and related crimes in South America.159 JHM…

LALIVE (formerly known as Lalive Budin & Partners) is a law firm based in Switzerland, with offices in Geneva, Zurich, and Doha (Qatar).161 One of the firm’s areas of expertise is ‘Investment Arbitration’.162 Relationship with the Tobacco Industry LALIVE has worked for Philip Morris International (PMI).163164 2010-2016: Represented Tobacco Company in Lawsuit Against Uruguay…

In 2010, Edith Schippers was appointed Minister for Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (Public Health and Sport) in the Netherlands.172 Her first act as a member of the Dutch government was to reverse the smoking ban in pubs, which had just been implemented. In early November 2011 Schippers came under pressure from MPs, doctors, and anti-smoking groups to clarify…

Background In September 2013, the Scottish Government announced that it would press ahead with plans to introduce Plain Packaging, with a public consultation in 2014 and then potentially to introduce legislation later that year or 2015. At the time, the then Scottish Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson, said: “The evidence is clear, plain packaging is an effective…