The health policy implications of international trade in alcohol and tobacco products.

The aim of national alcohol and tobacco preventive health policy is to reduce consumption in order to reduce harm. However, the level of domestic consumption depends upon the interaction of international demand and supply and the development of international trade policy. Trade policy may conflict with or act as a constraint on the implementation of preventive health policy. Trends in alcohol and tobacco trade and developments in international trade policy affecting these products are examined in this paper in relation to health policy goals. Economic models of the links between trade flows, quantities consumed and health effects are then outlined as a preliminary step towards identifying the complex interaction between alcohol and tobacco trade and production, consumption, health and welfare. It is shown that consideration of the economic trade links are an important factor in the development of international and domestic health policy.