Source: Theglobeandmail.com BARRIE McKENNA OTTAWA — The Globe and Mail Nov. 24 2013 With a wary eye on Mexico, the drafters of 1994’s North American free-trade agreement gave investors a powerful weapon to sue governments. The worry at the time was that Canadian and U.S. investors needed extra tools to protect against discrimination from unfair and opaque laws …
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Source: Alternet.org November 27, 2013  A recent leak uncovered what may be the most dangerous aspect of the Trans Pacific Partnership. This story first appeared on Getting Action, the Democracy Center’s activism blog. Last week the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement leapt from behind the closed doors of negotiations to the front pages of major newspapers, …
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Study commissioned by the EU Parliament identifies risks of TTIP for regulatory freedom of EU in the areas of the environment and food safety. Ecologic Institute and BIO IS were commissioned by the European Parliament to investigate the potential impacts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on the EU’s environmental and food safety …
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Source: Anpdm.com ECIPE Press Release, September 19, 2013 Argentina’s expropriation of Repsol’s shares in the Argentinean energy company YPF sent chock waves through the international investment community. Even if the action by the Argentinean government conformed to the standard of economic populism and nationalism that it is increasingly known for, the confiscatory nature of the expropriation …
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Source: Common Frontiers Chief & Council have extended the fundraising date to Monday Sept. 30th On January 18, 2013, the Hupacasath First Nation of British Columbia took the first steps toward challenging the Harper government’s new corporate rights pact with China – the Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (FIPA). That’s the day the Hupacasath filed …
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Source: Bu.edu By Kevin P. Gallagher and Leonardo E. Stanley September 2012 (8 pages) Download PDF In the wake of the global financial crisis, many economists and policymakers are advocating the use of regulations to control the cross-border flows of capital. However, such capital account regulations (known as CARs) often are limited or prohibited by commonly-used …
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Source: Bloomberg.com August 22, 2013 By Andrew Martin The war between the tobacco industry and anti-smoking forces is heating up as cigarette makers intensify efforts to use treaties to block labeling constraints. Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) has pressed the U.S. for language that would make it tougher for countries in a proposed Pacific Rim trade pact …
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Source: Theglobeandmail.com July 15, 2013 By JEFF GRAY – LAW REPORTER U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. has escalated a challenge it launched last year against Canada’s patent rules under the North American free-trade agreement, and is now demanding $500-million in compensation after the company lost its Canadian patents on two drugs. Indianapolis-based Lilly has expanded the NAFTA case …
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Source: Vcc.columbia.edu Columbia FDI Perspectives Perspectives on topical foreign direct investment issues by the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment The global significance of transatlantic investment rules by Jonathan (Josh) S. Kallmer* Investment is the bedrock of the economic relationship between the European Union and the United States. Together, EU and US firms have invested …
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Source: Redes.org.uy July 10, 2013 Bad news for Uruguay and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control The announcement by the arbitration tribunal of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank body, that it has jurisdiction to decide on the claim filed by US tobacco company Philip Morris, based in Switzerland, …
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