Indonesia is filing a dispute with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the United States’ ban on clove-flavored cigarettes, according to Reuters reports published Monday.
A member of the Indonesian WTO mission told the news agency that the nation was filing a complaint over a September 2009 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on cigarettes with fruit, candy, cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa, licorice, coffee, or clove flavors.
According to the FDA, the banned products were too attractive to children. However, according to Indonesia, banning these flavored products but not menthol cigarettes discriminates against foreign tobacco companies while giving unfair assistance to domestic producers.
WTO rules now require the two countries to try to resolve their differences, and if they are unable to within 60 days, Indonesia will be able to ask the trade organization to set up a panel of mediators to make a decision in the dispute.
According to a September 22, 2009 press release, the FDA stated that “Flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth. Studies have shown that 17 year old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.”
“Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction,” Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh said in the media statement. “FDA’s ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily.”
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