Investor-State Dispute Settlement
February 10, 2020: British American Tobacco’s submission to the Dutch government in response to its plans to introduce new plain packaging legislation for cigarettes has included a veiled threat of arbitration under international trade law.
February 5, 2019: AFTINET's handy summary of the latest evidence on global corporations suing governments (ISDS) has been updated here to include the latest cases.
January 30, 2020: An article by Manuel Perez-Rocha, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, argues that the ISDS provisions for Mexico in the new NAFTA agreement are neo-colonial and give extensive powers to big polluters, which could restrict government’s ability to act on climate change.
January 22, 2019: Australian mining company Indiana Resources is one of three mining companies that have served the Tanzanian government with a notice of intent to bring an ISDS case after it revoked the companies’ retention licences.
January 14, 2020: Uber has written to the Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez to officially notify him that it intends to sue the Colombian government for its decision to block the platform company from operating in the country.
January 7, 2020: Aura Energy Ltd, an Australian company also listed in the UK, has lodged a claim under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) for US 1.8 billion compensation from the Swedish government because in 2018 it decided to phase out uranium mining for environmental reasons.
December 4, 2019: The government announced that a new Bilateral Investment Agreement between Uruguay and Australia was signed on April 5, 2019. As is the usual practice, the text was tabled in parliament only after signing, and the agreement was reviewed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), which reported on December 3. Since the government has a majority on the committee, the report recommended that the government ratify the agreement. The previous 2002 Uruguay-Australia bilateral agreement will be terminated when this agreement enters into force.
November 28, 2019: The European Commission has announced the conclusion of a treaty between EU members that will terminate intra-EU bilateral investment treaties and prevent investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases being brought between EU member states.
November 7, 2019: Business economist Ian Verrender has criticised the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as another example of overlapping bilateral and regional trade agreements with complex rules that will not deliver claimed economic benefits but could do harm.
October 31, 2019: A new article by Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute, argues against Australia signing free trade agreements that undermine our sovereignty. Denniss calls out the hypocrisy of the Morrison government that has ratcheted up populist rhetoric while signing up to agreements that grant excessive rights to international investors at the expense of the Australian community.