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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)

Will El Salvador be forced to pay $301 million for valuing clean water over gold?
Equal Times | 15-Apr-2015
The Central American state of El Salvador could be forced to pay US$301 million in damages to an Australian-Canadian mining company, OceanaGold, after the company’s application for a mining license was rejected on the basis of the projected environmental damage it would cause.
Australia , Canada , El Salvador , investor-state disputes | ISDS , mining , water
NZ-Korea FTA Select Committee provides Kiwis chance to break silence on ISDS
Scoop | 30-Mar-2015
The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade committee is now accepting public submissions on the NZ-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing Kiwis with a rare chance to break the silence on the controversial investor-state dispute settlement provisions in that agreement and in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, according to It’s Our Future NZ.
actions | resistance , CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Korea , New Zealand
Leaked Pacific trade pact draft shows investment carve-outs sought
Reuters | 27-Mar-2015
Australia’s medicine subsidies, Canadian films and culture, and capital controls in Chile would be carved out from investment protection rules being negotiated in a Pacific trade pact, according to a draft text released by Wikileaks on Wednesday.
Australia , Canada , Chile , CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , Malaysia
Trans-Pacific Partnership: Trade deal could force Australian Government to spend millions to subsidise medicines, expert warns
Australia Broadcasting Corporation | 19-Mar-2015
Australia’s primary negotiator on medicines for the US-Australia FTA, Dr Ruth Lopert, warns that the TPP could force the Australian Government to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidise medicines.
Australia , CPTPP , intellectual property , investor-state disputes | ISDS , medicines
Where are the TPP negotiations up to?
Australia Broadcasting Corporation | 4-Mar-2015
Discussion with Susan Sell, Matthew Rimmer and Jane Kelsey
audio , Australia , CPTPP , investor-state disputes | ISDS , New Zealand , US
Tobacco: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Last Week Tonight | 16-Feb-2015
Thanks to tobacco industry regulations and marketing restrictions in the US, smoking rates have dropped dramatically. John Oliver explains how tobacco companies are keeping their business strong overseas.
Australia , health , investor-state disputes | ISDS , video
Analyst: ISDS model is Australia, not Canada
EurActiv | 16-Dec-2014
Gus Van Harten tells EurActiv that the EU should explore the option of an international arbitration court and use Australia, not Canada as a benchmark.
Australia , Canada , EU , investor-state disputes | ISDS , TTIP
Investor-state dispute settlement and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement
Allens | 21-Nov-2014
The Investment Chapter of the ChAFTA may be similar to the KAFTA’s with broad carve outs limiting the scope of claims that a foreign investor may bring against the host country and providing the parties with a discretion to regulate on ’public welfare’ objectives
Australia , China , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Chinese corporations allowed to sue Australian government under free trade agreement
SMH | 18-Nov-2014
The deal struck between China and Australia on Monday will contain an Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism that will allow Chinese corporations to challenge the Australian government for "pretty much anything", say academics
Australia , China , investor-state disputes | ISDS
Australian company sues El Salvador for its right to pillage
Green Left Weekly | 3-Nov-2014
Australian-based company OceanaGold is suing El Salvador for US$301 million for its “right” to continue operating a gold mine that is destroying the Central American nation’s water supply.
Australia , El Salvador , investor-state disputes | ISDS , mining , water