Pacific

Pacific states have signed 72 trade and investment agreements, 39 of which have been concluded by Australia alone.

Most of Australia’s free trade deals contain investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, including those with ASEAN and New Zealand (AANZFTA), China (ChAFTA), India, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico or Turkey.

Following a dispute with Philip Morris over an anti-tobacco law, Australia claimed it would refrain from engaging into new investment agreements with ISDS. However Australia’s more recent agreements such as ChAFTA, the Indonesia FTA, the Hong Kong FTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) include ISDS.

The Philip Morris vs. Australia case is the most well-known dispute to date. When Australia introduced plain packaging for all tobacco products in 2011, Philip Morris initiated a claim against Australia before an arbitral tribunal. In its December 2015 decision, the tribunal dismissed the case, albeit on legal grounds only. Australia spent A$24 million but Philip Morris only paid half, leaving the Australian taxpayers to pay the rest.

The Pacific has been the least targeted region. Only Australian investors have initiated disputes on seven registered occasions, two of which were under the Energy Charter Treaty.

Photo: Dominic Hartnett / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

(April 2020)

The Dominion Post | 6-Jul-2015
New Zealand needs to be ready to walk away from the Trans Pacific Partnership, says The Domion Post, worried about the impact of its drug patenting rules and investor-state dispute settlement mechanism.
Scoop | 30-Jun-2015
The Australian government misrepresents the claims of critics and fails to address substantial criticisms of the Trans Pacific Partnership, says civil society network AFTINET.
Lexology | 26-Jun-2015
While the legal text of the China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA) was signed last week, the investment legal framework will be reviewed within the next three years with a view to commencing negotiations for a comprehensive Investment Chapter to be included in ChAFTA.
Canberra Times | 19-Jun-2015
Remarkably, the Australian government has given Chinese companies a general right to buy resources and other assets in Australia – so-called market access – without getting the same right for Australian companies in China.
| 5-Jun-2015
There has never been any doubt that the United States, and especially the US Congress, wields ultimate power over the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
| 4-Jun-2015
A new dump of leaked secretive trade deal documents on WikiLeaks reveals an international agreement could prevent future Australian governments from introducing regulations around licensing, qualifications and technical standards, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
| 15-May-2015
Labor has called on the federal government to follow the example of the Howard years and oppose the inclusion of a controversial dispute-settlement provision in trade talks with the US.
| 15-May-2015
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes hears its first case outside of US, France
PINA | 23-Apr-2015
This is the leaked draft chapter on Investment text from the PACER Plus Intersessional meeting in Auckland, 26-28 November 2013.
ITUC | 15-Apr-2015
The International Trade Union Confederation calls on the government of El Salvador to denounce all treaties establishing ISDS proceedings.