19-Apr-2005
Financial Times
Romania’s past treatment of foreign investors may soon come back to haunt its new government and an economic plan agreed with Brussels ahead of membership of the European Union. A World Bank arbitration panel, the Icsid, is expected to rule in coming weeks on a lawsuit seeking $350m (€270m, £180m) from the state brought by Noble Ventures, an American investment group.
23-Feb-2005
Public Citizen
A new study by Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch analyzes 42 NAFTA investor-state challenges and illustrates how the proposed CAFTA would extend the threat.
13-Feb-2005
Philippine Star
Fraport AG of Germany has decided to flex its diplomatic muscle in pressing for immediate compensation from the Philippine government for their investment in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Passenger Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) project, under the 1997 Philippine-German bilateral investment treaty.
7-Feb-2005
Straight Goods
On January 24, the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) launched a constitutional challenge against NAFTA’s Chapter 11 rules before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. This is the first time that a court will consider the constitutionality of international trade rules.
5-Aug-2004
Bilateral investment agreements: Agents of new global standards for the protection of intellectual property rights?
Developing countries have entered into a large number of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as well as free trade agreements (FTAs) that include explicit obligations for the protection of intellectual property rights as "investments".