November 29, 2012
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) Free Trade negotiations resume in Auckland Sunday, December 2, 2012
European report slams investor rights to sue governments
“A hot-button issue to be discussed at the Trans-Pacific free trade talks next week is the US proposal for foreign
investor rights to sue governments for damages if a law or policy harms their investments,” said Dr Patricia Ranald,
Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network.
“The Australian government opposes this, because it is currently being sued by the Philip Morris tobacco company for its
plain packaging legislation, under the provisions of an obscure 1993 Hong Kong investment agreement, even after tobacco
companies lost their challenge to the legislation in the Australian High Court.”
Trans-Pacific free trade negotiations between Australia, the US, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia,
Vietnam, Mexico and Canada resume in Auckland, NZ, from December 2 to 9, 2012.
“A wide range of civil society organisations will be holding public events and demonstrations, and presenting their
views to negotiators,” said Dr Ranald.
“A report by the Amsterdam Transnational Institute called Profiting from Injustice released this week exposes the growth of the international ‘arbitration industry’ for investor rights to sue over
health and environmental legislation. It has surged from 38 known cases in 1996 to 459 known cases in 2011. In 2010,
corporations were claiming at least $100 million from governments in 151 cases,” explained Dr Ranald.
The report reveals how the arbitration industry is dominated by a few international legal firms which supply both
arbitrators and advocates, and has none of the safeguards of national legal processes. The proceedings are not public,
lawyers can be advocates one week and arbitrators the next, there is no system of precedents and no appeals.
Transnational companies support the system precisely because it gives them far more rights than national systems.
Dr Ranald will make a presentation to negotiators at the Stakeholders Forum on Friday, December 7. The presentation will
analyse the reasons behind the Australian High Court decision, which were published in October, and show how
international arbitration threatens national sovereignty by ignoring national judicial decisions. She will urge all
governments to oppose investor rights to sue in the negotiations.
Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network
ENDS