(Bridges Monthly – Marie Wilke)
The ‘buy national’ clauses that numerous governments have included in their economic stimulus packages are causing growing concern. For many developing countries, bilateral investment treaties may be the best option for legal recourse against such provisions.
Despite their likely trade-distorting effects, buy national requirements appear to be consistent with WTO rules on trade in goods and services (the GATT and the GATS), although they may well breach commitments made under the plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA). The GPA, however, applies to signatories only, which leaves the many developing countries that have refrained from joining the agreement without a possibility for legal recourse. For emerging markets, such as Argentina, Brazil and India, this causes major distress.
Turning away from the multilateral trading system, about 2,800 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) that provide for investor-state arbitration in international fora, such as the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), might serve as a basis for legal challenges. It is conceivable that investors engaged in the importation of products manufactured abroad, possibly even directly involved in bidding processes for government procurement contracts, will challenge buy national clauses under bilateral investment agreements with reference to (i) the substantive assurance of national treatment and (ii) the general principle of fair and equitable treatment. Read more here.
Showing posts with label GATT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GATT. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Future of the Multilateral Trading System
(University Consortium)
Jeff Schott, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics discusses the roots and future of the multilateral trading system in a lecture at Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs from March 31, 2009. Note: This presentation is 1 hour 22 minutes in length.
Schott joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in 1983 and is a senior fellow working on international trade policy and economic sanctions. During his tenure at the Institute, Schott was also a visiting lecturer at Princeton University (1994) and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University (198688). He was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (198283) and an official of the US Treasury Department (197482) in international trade and energy policy.
During the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations, he was a member of the U.S. delegation that negotiated the GATT Subsidies Code. Since January 2003, he has been a member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee of the U.S. government. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy of the U.S. Department of State.
Schott is the author, coauthor, or editor of several books on trade, including Economic Sanctions Reconsidered; Trade Relations Between Colombia and the United States; NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges; Free Trade Agreements: US Strategies and Priorities; and Prospects for Free Trade in the Americas to name a few.
Jeff Schott, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics discusses the roots and future of the multilateral trading system in a lecture at Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs from March 31, 2009. Note: This presentation is 1 hour 22 minutes in length.
Schott joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in 1983 and is a senior fellow working on international trade policy and economic sanctions. During his tenure at the Institute, Schott was also a visiting lecturer at Princeton University (1994) and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University (198688). He was a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (198283) and an official of the US Treasury Department (197482) in international trade and energy policy.
During the Tokyo Round of multilateral trade negotiations, he was a member of the U.S. delegation that negotiated the GATT Subsidies Code. Since January 2003, he has been a member of the Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee of the U.S. government. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy of the U.S. Department of State.
Schott is the author, coauthor, or editor of several books on trade, including Economic Sanctions Reconsidered; Trade Relations Between Colombia and the United States; NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges; Free Trade Agreements: US Strategies and Priorities; and Prospects for Free Trade in the Americas to name a few.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
