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investment | BITs

South Africa: BITs in pieces
20-Oct-2012 FT
South Africa has terminated a bilateral investment treaty with Belgium and Luxembourg in the first of a series of planned shreddings of post apartheid-era agreements which are coming up for renewal.
BITs, FTAs and damaging effects of their investment chapters
8-Oct-2012 TWN
The damaging effects of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and the investment chapters of North-South Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) were highlighted at a World Trade Organisation (WTO) Public Forum held last week.
Big Tobacco warning at free-trade talks
11-Sep-2012
Delegates attending trans-Pacific free-trade negotiations in the United States are being warned their countries could end up like Australia if they agree to allow corporations to sue governments in international courts.
Pak-US hectic talks on BIT draft
2-Sep-2012
Pakistan and the United States remained engaged on Friday to narrow their differences over the draft of Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) which Islamabad and Washington have been discussing since March 2012
India, ASEAN to review talks on FTA in services and investments
29-Aug-2012
Trade ministers of India and 10-member ASEAN will review the progress of ongoing negotiations to widen the base of free trade agreement between them by including services and investments.
Icsid: Venezuela with the largest amount of ongoing complaints
22-Aug-2012
Venezuela turned out to be the country with the highest number of complaints filed against it at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid) of the World Bank, after four new complaints lodged in the days prior to its effective pullout of the body.
Australia upholds tobacco branding ban
15-Aug-2012
Australia’s High Court has rejected a challenge by the world’s biggest tobacco companies which are seeking to overturn a law requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from the start of December.
Fair trade group condemns big tobacco’s use of trade agreements to continue plain packaging fight after High Court defeat
15-Aug-2012
“We welcome the High Court decision as a vindication of the Government’s right to regulate tobacco as an addictive substance that still kills 15,000 Australians per year,” Dr Patricia Ranald, Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, said today.
China offers protection to Taiwan investors
9-Aug-2012 FT
China and Taiwan have signed their first investor-protection agreement in the latest sign of the momentum behind President Ma Ying-jeou’s drive to strengthen his country’s relationship with China, its biggest trade partner and frequent political adversary.
SADC moving forward on model bilateral investment treaty template
7-Aug-2012 UNCTAD
Investment policy makers and investment treaty negotiators from the 15-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) convened in Pretoria, South Africa recently to engage in clause by clause in-depth discussions of the draft SADC Model Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) Template and Commentary.
Pakistan businessmen want legal cover for their investment in India
6-Aug-2012 Bernama
Pakistani businessmen who intend to invest in India should be given legal cover to ensure that no future government in Delhi reverses the decision to allow investments from Pakistan, a leading trade lobby has said.
SA to stay away from bilateral treaties: Davies
2-Aug-2012 Sapa
South Africa will avoid entering into bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in future, except where there are compelling economic and political circumstances, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Thursday.
UNCTAD WIR 2012 launched
10-Jul-2012 UNCTAD
UNCTAD’s flagship publication, World Investment Report 2012: Towards a New Generation of Investment Policies, was launched on 5 July in Geneva by Dr. James Zhan, Director of the Investment and Enterprise Division, as well as by staff and collaborators worldwide.
The dark side of investment agreements
6-Jul-2012 TNI
An animation which exposes how people are paying the costs of corporate lawsuits under international investment agreements.
SBY frets over int’l arbitration
2-Jul-2012
President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono is telling his ministers to prepare for the worst after the government recently entered into arbitration with an international mining company.
India: BIT of a problem
29-Jun-2012 Financial Express
An investment litigation strategy and investment negotiation strategy on BITs and investment is clearly the need of the hour for India.
Foreign lawsuits already a threat
25-Jun-2012 Stuff
As activists and the Government clash over the alleged inclusion of investor protections in the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, a legal expert says many foreign investors already have that right
NGOs express concern over ongoing US-India Bilateral Investment Treaty
19-Jun-2012 PharmaBiz
A group of public interest organisations in India have expressed concern about the ongoing US-India Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
Leaked draft of trade deal exposes risks - professor
13-Jun-2012
The Trans Pacific Partnership agreement being negotiated at present would open up New Zealand Governments to litigation for tightening regulations in such areas as gas and oil and exploration or even introducing a capital gains tax, according to Professor Jane Kelsey of Auckland University.
TPP - draft investment chapter (June 2012)
13-Jun-2012 Public Citizen