Regulation and Investor Protection Under the Trans-Pacific Partnership
In his International Environmental Law column, Stephen L. Kass writes: On March 25, 2015, WikiLeaks released the confidential draft "Investor Protection" chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which could chill effective environmental regulation because of the threat of expropriation and other damage claims by affected "investors" from other TPP Parties.
April 30, 2015 at 07:38 PM
11 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New York Law Journal
In my last column (“The Environmental Struggle Within the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Jan. 8, 2015), I discussed the failure of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement to include sufficiently strong requirements for the parties (the U.S. and 11 other Pacific rim countries from Asia and the Americas) to comply with multilateral environmental agreements, resolve environmental disputes, protect fisheries and endangered species, address climate change and require responsible corporate conduct affecting the environment. On March 25, 2015, WikiLeaks also released the confidential draft “Investor Protection” chapter of the TPP, which raises a very different series of environmental issues.
Rather than encouraging effective environmental regulation by TPP Parties, the Investor Protection chapter as presently drafted could chill such regulation because of the threat of expropriation and other damage claims by affected “investors” from other TPP Parties. In addition, there remain significant policy issues concerning the mandatory arbitration procedures for resolving environmental disputes between those investors and TPP Parties.
This would repeat, with broader consequences, the same problem that arose under the investor protection provisions of Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In NAFTA, similar, though less developed, investor protection provisions made it more difficult for Mexico, Canada and even the United States to enforce new environmental regulations against foreign investors who claimed that such regulations amounted to compensable takings or “inequitable treatment” under NAFTA.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3'That's Disappointing': Only 11% of MDL Appointments Went to Attorneys of Color in 2023
- 4What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers
- 5'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250