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)

bilaterals.org & GRAIN | 3-Jun-2024
Saka chibvumirano ichi chinoreveiko kuzvizvarwa zevmuAfrica zvisinavo chouviri munguva dzekuoma kunyangwe dzekusanaya kwemvura nemaguta?
bilaterals.org & GRAIN | 3-Jun-2024
Hivyo basi, makubaliano haya ya kibiashara yana maana gani kwa Muafrika wa kawaida katika wakati wa majanga makubwa ya kimazingira, kiuchumi na chakula?
bilaterals.org & GRAIN | 3-Jun-2024
Xana ntwanano wa mabindzu lawa wu vula yini eka munhu ntsena wa le Afrika hi nkarhi lowu wa mintlhontlho leyikulu ya maxelo, ikhonomi na swakudya?
Club of Mozambique | 31-May-2024
African commodities house ETG has warned Mozambique that it will seek international arbitration in a dispute over the seizure of up to US$60 million’s worth of goods.
SSRN | 7-Mar-2024
Using the 2015 arbitral award in von Pezold v. Zimbabwe as its starting point, this piece reflects on the relationship between racial capitalism and international law.
CIAR Global | 14-Feb-2024
El 31 de enero de 2024, el Gobierno de Chile recibió el aviso de presentación de demanda de arbitraje de capitales uruguayo y estadounidense Delibest, reclamando 70 millones de US$, ante el CIADI por impagos de los servicios de alimentación durante las revueltas estudiantiles ocurridas en Santiago en octubre de 2019, una movilización social originada por el alza de los precios del transporte.
The Guardian | 1-Feb-2024
Local fishers helped halt underwater mining off Baja California’s coast in 2018. But then an obscure international legal process was put into motion.
Essex Court Chambers | 12-Jan-2024
Peteris Pildegovics and SIA North Star argued that Norway had violated the BIT between Latvia and Norway in relation to alleged investments of the claimants in snow crab harvesting licenses and harvesting vessels.
bilaterals.org & GRAIN | 4-Dec-2023
¿Qué significa para las personas africanas comunes este acuerdo comercial en un momento de profundas crisis climática, económica y alimentaria?
bilaterals.org | 29-Nov-2023
Retour sur l’atelier organisé à Marrakech par Attac Maroc, bilaterals.org, CADTM Afrique, GRAIN et l’Observatoire Tunisien de l’Economie.