Investor-State Dispute Settlement
October 17, 2019: Media Release “Labor has decided to approve the enabling legislation for the Indonesia, Hong Kong and Peru agreements despite the fact that they contain damaging provisions that are contrary Labor policies, in return for some fairly weak assurances from the government that may not be delivered,” AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today.
October 9, 2019: Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) polling in the seats of Bass, Brand, Corio, Hunter and Rankin reveals 75 - 80 per cent of voters oppose trade agreements that allow additional work visas without first testing if local workers can fill available jobs and that include Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions that give corporations the right to sue governments for policy decisions that impact on their profit.
October 8, 2019: AFTINET and Indonesia for Global Justice have come together to oppose the inclusion of investor rights to sue governments in the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
September 25, 2019: The South African Government has submitted proposals to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) review of ISDS. ISDS enables foreign investors to claim compensation from governments in international investment tribunals if they can claim that domestic laws reduce the value of their investment.
September 24, 2019: Social Action for Community and Development, Focus on the Global South and other Cambodian civil society organisations have developed a short video showing the risks that the RCEP poses to communities across Cambodia, including farmers and workers.
September 17, 2019: AFTINET Convener, Dr Pat Ranald, has published an op-ed in the Conversation today about progress in RCEP negotiations after Malaysia’s trade minister Datuk Darell Leiking revealed that Malaysia and each of the other 15 parties to the RCEP negotiations had agreed to exclude ISDS provisions from the deal.
September 16, 2019: German company Uniper has threatened to bring an ISDS case against the Dutch government after a decision to ban coal-based power generation by 2030.
September 9, 2019: The South Centre, an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries, has released a new report analysing ISDS cases relating to Intellectual Property rules in international investment agreements and trade agreements with investment provisions.
September 2, 2019: AFTINET has joined with the ACTU, APHEDA and other Union and community groups to stand in solidarity with workers’ and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
August 22, 2019: The Canadian government has been ordered to pay US$7 million plus compound interest from 2007 to US concrete company Bilcon, which sued the government using ISDS in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).