Agriculture & food

The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism included in most trade and investment agreements gives foreign investors the right to challenge national laws and regulations related to agriculture and food, would these regulations represent an obstacle to their profits.

About 4% of all ICSID cases concerned agriculture, fishing and forestry issues as of end of 2019.

Most well-known cases include:

• Corn Products International (US) vs. Mexico: in 2009 US$58.4 million were awarded to the agribusiness producer of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) – a derived sweetener linked to obesity. The investor challenged a government tax levied on beverages sweetened with HFCS (NAFTA invoked).

• Cargill (US) vs. Mexico: US$90.7 million awarded to the food-processing giant in 2009. The investor successfully challenged the abovementioned Mexican tax on HFCS (NAFTA invoked).

• Micula (Sweden) vs. Romania: US$250 million awarded to the multiple food-processing company in 2013, following the termination of incentives from the Romanian government in order to comply with EU law (Romania-Sweden BIT invoked).

Photo: Indymedia Mexico

(March 2020)

CIAR Global | 26-Jan-2021
La compañía británica Vestey Group y Venezuela llegaron a un acuerdo por más de 100 millones de dólares para poner fin al largo arbitraje de inversiones que se inició en 2006 ante el Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias relativas a Inversiones (CIADI).
Lexology | 18-Sep-2020
The Micula saga is characterized by the ICSID award (and its review by the ad hoc Committee) being just the beginning rather than the conclusion of the dispute.
Indonesia for Global Justice | 11-Sep-2020
Indonesian CSOs assesses the national economic recovery strategy by strengthening policies economic liberalization focusing only on investment and exports will only be increasingly open space for corporate monopoly on economic resources.
Indonesia for Global Justice | 7-Sep-2020
Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil Indonesia untuk Keadilan Ekonomi menilai strategi pemulihan ekonomi nasional dengan penguatan kebijakan liberalisasi ekonomi hanya akan semakin membuka ruang monopoli korporasi atas sumber daya ekonomi.
Express | 29-May-2020
The UK Department for International Trade has been blasted for its claims that the UK has enough trading clout to assert itself in US trade talks, amid concerns.
Kluwer Arbitration Blog | 15-May-2020
The dispute for snow crabs in Svalbard may set the stage for another dispute concerning the abundant hydrocarbon reserves located in the same waters.
DW | 8-May-2020
México ha concluido, en plena pandemia, la modernización de su acuerdo de asociación con la UE. Grandes oportunidades ven unos, más de lo mismo ven otros.
Global Legal Chronicle | 20-Apr-2020
The tribunal granted Turkmenistan’s application for security for costs, ordering the claimant to post US$3 million in security as a condition to the continuation of the arbitration.
IISD | 27-Mar-2020
Magyar e Inicia afirmaron que Hungría había expropiado sus derechos de arrendamiento a las tierras tras una reforma del sector agrícola destinada a promover las explotaciones agrícolas familiares a expensas de las empresas agrícolas.
IISD | 27-Mar-2020
Magyar et Inicia ont affirmé que la Hongrie avait exproprié leurs droits de bail sur la terre, suite à une réforme du secteur agricole visant à promouvoir les exploitations familiales au détriment des entreprises agricoles.