GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A lawsuit against Australia’s plain packaging for tobacco products law will be heard in the World Trade Organization (WTO) court, diplomats announced late last week, Reuters reports. Five countries — Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia and Ukraine — brought the suit against Australia more than two years ago. The suit alleges that the drab, olive-green packaging with small standardized fonts for brand names hurts trade and violates intellectual property rights.

“My country fully shares Australia's health objectives. However, its plain packaging measure is failing to have the desired health effects of reducing smoking prevalence and remains detrimental to our premium tobacco industry,” said Katrina Naut, head of foreign trade for the Dominican Republic. “By banning all design elements from tobacco packaging, plain packaging precludes our producers from differentiating their premium products from competitors in the marketplace.”

The case inched forward slowly because of procedural challenges, but all parties have signed off on conditions that will let the case proceed shortly. A ruling could come as soon as November.

With the WTO case likely to be decided this year, Britain and New Zealand will probably move forward soon to implement similar rules, while tobacco companies continue to fight against plain packaging. Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has halted its new packaging rules because of litigation.