The Royal Thai government maintains restrictions on imports of cigarettes. The Tobacco Act of 1966 prohibited the import of all forms of tobacco except by license of the director-general of the Excise Department. Licenses have only been granted to the government- owned Thai Tobacco Monopoly, which has imported cigarettes only three times since 1966. None had been imported in the ten years prior to this case. The United States requested the panel to find that the licensing of imported cigarettes by Thailand was inconsistent with GATT Article XI and could not be justified under Article XX(b) since, as applied by Thailand, the licensing requirements were more restrictive than necessary to protect human health. Thailand argued that cigarette imports were prohibited to control smoking and because chemicals and other additives contained in American cigarettes might make them more harmful than Thai cigarettes.
1. What reasons did Thailand give for restricting imports of cigarettes? What GATT provision did Thailand rely on to restrict cigarette imports?
2. The panel states that GATT permits countries to give priority to human health over trade liberalization only under certain conditions. What are those conditions?
3. How was the doctrine of "least restrictive trade" used in this case?
4. What alternative means could Thailand have used to achieve its objectives that would not have singled out imported cigarettes for discriminatory treatment?