Smoking Chills? Tobacco Regulatory Chill, Foreign Investment, and the NCD Crisis in the Post-Soviet Space: A Case Study from Ukraine

Abstract

This article engages with the ongoing debate on regulatory chill in the context of the international investment regime. By analyzing trends in tobacco legislation and delineating empirical findings on policymaking, it examines the hypothesis that international investment agreements affect tobacco control legislation and lead to regulatory chill in Ukraine. The article finds no direct evidence of a causal linkage between the State’s investment treaty commitments and the level of tobacco regulatory standards. Instead, it argues that the regulatory deterrence is likely to be attributed to other determinants, including strong tobacco lobby, the State’s dependency on foreign direct investment and related capital flight concerns. In addition, it observes similar dynamics in relation to the pharmaceutical and food industries.