Both the Department of Intellectual Property and the International Trademark Association have complained to the government of Yingluck Shinawatra about a Public Health Ministry proposal to increase the size of warning labels on cigarette packs.
Once the new warnings are in place, they will take up close to 85% of the package space on each pack of cigarettes sold in Thailand. Representative of the Department of Intellectual Property and the International Trademark Association both claim that this change will violate international treaties, break Thai trademark law and violate Thai intellectual property strictures.
By essentially pushing the logo on a pack of cigarettes off of the packaging, the law runs the risks of invoking the World Trade Organization’s ire.
The law’s critics have implied that the Public Health Ministry is only pushing for bigger warning labels in order to claim the title of “biggest warnings in the world,” a distinction currently held by Australia, which requires warnings to cover 82.5% of cigarette packages sold within the country.
Also adding its voice to the chorus of criticism is the Thai Tobacco Trade Association (TTTA).
The Bangkok Post quoted TTTA Executive Director Varaporn Namatra as say, “The well-being of about 480,000 Thai retailers is more important than just making a world record.”
