The ban of all clove cigarettes began in late 2009, ninety days after the U.S. president signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention Tobacco Control Act of 2009, which prohibits the production and sale of cigarettes containing certain additives, including clove, in the U.S. However, the Act does not prohibit the production and sale of other cigarettes, such as cigarettes containing menthol.
Indonesia claims that this Act is inconsistent with U.S. WTO obligations on non-discrimination, as it treats differently “like products.” Indonesia also stipulates that while Article XX of GATT 1994 allows certain measures that protect human, animal or plant life or health, such measures should not be arbitrary or discriminatory, or amount to “a disguised restriction on international trade.” Finally, Indonesia claims that a total ban on clove cigarettes did not take into consideration “scientific and technical information” required by TBT Agreement Article 2, nor did the measure take into account “the special development and trade needs of developing country Members.”